By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Farmers can help bring $2,500 to their local communities by participating in the America’s Farmers Grow Communities project.

The project, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, gives farmers an opportunity to donate to those nonprofit groups or organizations they see as most deserving or in need, said Gayla Daugherty, community outreach manager for Monsanto.

“In talking to farmers, they said they really wanted support in their local communities, because local tax dollars are drying up,” she said. “This is a shift in where Monsanto is putting their money. These local communities are where our farmers live and where our products go.”

The Monsanto Fund plans to award $2,500 in each of more than 1,200 counties in 38 states, for a total of more than $3 million, Daugherty noted. Farmers choose where the money will go.
In two previous pilot programs, farmers named local fire departments, FFA and 4-H as recipients, along with libraries, community centers and local hospitals.

“The money might be used to buy safety equipment for the fire department, or send some FFA students to a leadership conference,” she explained. “It’s touching to hear the actual stories of how the money is used.”

The Monsanto Fund will also donate $1 to local United Way chapters in each community for every farmer who applies.
To participate, farmers may apply online
(www.growcommunities.com), over the phone at 877-267-3332 or fax an entry to 314-726-6350. The entry deadline is Dec. 31. The website includes the eligible counties, plus the official rules, which list which nonprofit groups or organizations are eligible.

To be eligible, farmers must live or farm in an eligible county, be 21 years or older and actively engaged in a farming operation with a minimum of 250 acres of corn, soybeans and/or cotton, or farm 40 acres of open field vegetables, or at least 10 acres of tomatoes, peppers and/or cucumbers grown in protected culture, Daugherty said.

Eligible counties must have 30,000 acres devoted to corn, soybeans and/or cotton, or devoted to certain vegetables.

In Illinois, farmers in 96 counties are eligible, with $240,000 expected to be invested. In Indiana, 83 counties, $207,500; Iowa, 99 counties, $247,500; Kentucky, 29 counties, $72,500; Michigan, 37 counties, $92,500; Ohio, 63 counties, $157,500; and Tennessee, 24 counties, $60,000.

In two previous pilot programs, the Monsanto Fund donated more than $1.2 million in 10 states.

The information submitted by farmers will only be used for the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program, Daugherty said, adding the application process takes about five minutes. Winners will be drawn randomly in January, and announced in February. Applicants do not have to be Monsanto customers.