Indiana Corn seeks farmers for upcoming director elections
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Petitions are available to Indiana corn farmers interested in serving on the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) board of directors. ICMC is the state corn checkoff organization.
ICMC directors are responsible for overseeing the effective and efficient investment of corn checkoff funds in programs that strengthen Indiana’s corn industry. Board members must be willing to participate in board meetings, committee meetings and other corn checkoff functions throughout the year.
Farmers interested in running for a director position should submit a petition to the ICMC office before June 30. Farmers can receive a petition by calling the ICMC office at 877-267-6444 or by downloading a form a www.incorn.org
To run for an ICMC director seat, corn farmers must be a registered Indiana voter, at least 18 years of age and reside in the appropriate district. All farmers who submit a valid petition by the deadline will be listed as a candidate on the election ballot. Voting takes place at local Cooperative Extension Service county offices in August.
Newly elected directors will begin a three-year term Oct. 1. ICMC directors can serve three consecutive full terms or a total of nine consecutive years. This year, ICMC has seats up for election in Districts 3, 6 and 9. There are also two At-Large seats up for election.
District 3 includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley counties. District 6 included Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Union and Wayne and District 9 includes Clark, Dearborn, Franklin, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, Scott, and Switzerland.
CoBank reports full-year financial results for 2010
DENVER, Colo. — CoBank recently announced fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for 2010. Full-year earnings and net interest income reached record highs, and loan quality continued to improve throughout the year.
CoBank’s full-year net income was a record $613.8 million, up 8.6 percent from 2009. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $162.8 million, compared with $132.6 million in the same period in the prior year. Full-year net income reflected the benefit of refunds of Farm Credit insurance premiums paid in prior years, a lower premium in the current year, a lower provision for loan losses and greater fee income.
Average loan volume during 2010 was $45.5 billion, up 2.3 percent from the prior year. A key driver was higher seasonal financing requirements from agribusiness customers due to the sharp increase in prices for grains and other agricultural commodities that occurred in the latter part of 2010. The bank also increased its lending to rural electric distribution cooperatives around the country.
This month, the bank is paying $284.6 million in total patronage distributions, including $194.1 million in cash and $90.5 million in common stock.
Video contest intended to highlight Ohio agriculture COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s Center for Food and Animal Issues is inviting Ohioans to share how food and farming touches their lives in the “My Ohio Agriculture – What’s Our Connection?” video contest.
Farmers, consumers and local organizations such as 4-H and FFA groups are invited to create one or more original videos showing their connection to Ohio agriculture that effectively communicates a positive and informative message. Contestants must upload videos to YouTube.com prior to registering on the official contest site.
A single “People’s Choice Award” winner will be determined by the video with the most views on YouTube and will be awarded a $500 gift credit card. A panel of judges will select “Judge’s Choice Award” winners from all approved videos posted to YouTube and the official contest site. Multiple winners will be chosen and each will receive a $500 gift credit card.
The contest, which will run until Oct. 14, is open to all Ohio residents who are at least 18 years of age. Youths involved in county Farm Bureaus, 4-H and FFA organizations also may be eligible if working with an adult adviser.
For official rules and helpful hints and tips on creating a video, visit the contest page at www.bit.ly/myohioag
Steuben County SWCD wins $10,000 national award INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Northeastern Indiana’s Steuben County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is the recipient of a $10,000 National Conservation Foundation District grant.
The National Conservation Foundation seeks “on-the-ground” projects that touch local communities and Steuben County SWCD’s rain barrel project will certainly do just that. The agency started its rain barrel program working with the city of Angola to place 40 barrels in critical areas, funded as part of an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) 319 grant.
Now Steuben County will contract with Rehabilitation and Industrial Services Enterprise (RISE), Inc. to build 200 barrels for its RISE Up to Reduce Your Storm Water, Communities Building Rain Barrels program. The 55-gallon barrels will be sold for approximately $20 to homeowners in priority areas – urban and lake areas of Steuben County.
Use soy-based products, be a winner in Michigan FRANKENMUTH, Mich. — With April being National Soyfoods Month, now is a great time to discover the many benefits of eating soy. Now is also the perfect time to discover other products made with soy that are good for you and the environment.
Visit the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee website at www.michigansoy bean.org and register to receive a free soy recipe cookbook and enter the drawing for a chance to win $100 in soy biobased products. Kim Dingman from Eaton Rapids was the February winner and Molly Jennings from Grand Rapids was the March winner of soy biobased products.
There are many soy products to choose from; for information on the listed products, visit the above website or www.soynewuses.org |
