By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

DEWITT, Mich. — The Michigan Corn Growers Assoc. (MCGA) has launched a new website on heating with corn.

The new pages are a response to consumer demand, said MCGA’s Executive Director, Jody Pollok.

“Two or three years ago we started getting a lot of calls from consumers about heating with corn,” Pollok said.

The MCGA began to consult with corn heat manufacturers and experts at the MSU Extension to put together an information clearinghouse on the Internet. Visitors to the web site will be able to navigate through subjects such as how corn heating units work, the economic benefits of heating with corn, where to buy corn furnaces and corn stoves, the right questions to ask before making a purchase and grant opportunities.

The grant opportunities page lists several possible grants, most of which are geared toward businesses, including farmers. One that’s available for anyone is the DOE/ASE tax credit; contact names and telephone numbers are also provided. The site also provides a link to draft legislation at the state level that would provide a tax credit to those who purchase a corn heating unit.

Under the economics heading, the site displays charts prepared by Chris Schilling of Saginaw Valley State University just last May.
According to one of the charts, if corn was selling at $1.60 per bushel, propane would have to sell for 40 cents per gallon in order to be as cheap. Likewise, propane would have to sell for 80 cents per gallon in order to be as cheap as corn at $3.20 per bushel.

The site provides the addresses of 27 corn sellers all over the state who are ready to provide corn to those who need it to heat their home or business.

“A lot of local producers can bag the corn and sell it,” Pollok said. “It’s not that difficult to find corn.”

According to the website, corn is abundantly available - despite rumors to the contrary. It states that, in 2005-06, Michigan had a corn surplus of 37 million bushels.

The website is linked to MCGA’s site at www.micorn.org/heat

This farm news was published in the June 27, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.