Illinois farmers will be asked in a referendum this spring to increase the corn checkoff amount by 1/8 cent per bushel. If the referendum is approved by a majority of the state's corn growers, it would increase the current ¼ cent voluntary checkoff rate to 3/8 of a cent per bushel. The additional 1/8 cent per bushel is equivalent to about 20 cents-per-acre or the value of 100 seeds in a bag of seed corn.

A hearing was held last Friday at the Illinois Department of Agriculture in Springfield to gather input from producers to consider whether to hold a referendum on the proposed rate increase. A referendum date is being set for this spring and will be finalized soon, the Illinois Corn Growers Association office said Tuesday.

According to the ICGA, a survey of more than 1,000 of its members said they would support raising the checkoff rate to 3/8 cents-per-bushel. "This is a strong majority, and we think support will grow as they learn how new funds will be spent," said ICGA President Steve Ruh of Sugar Grove.

"Illinois corn farmers should have an opportunity to vote on updating this program that has been in place since 1983," Ruh added.

The checkoff rate has remained the same for 24 years, despite an attempt to raise the rate in 1993. Growers will continue to have a right to refund, regardless of the referendum's outcome.

The long term growth in ethanol production and consumer acceptance is an example of a checkoff success story, but also a major challenge facing the industry today, said Ruh. "We will need to diversify the ethanol market beyond 10% ethanol fuel to E85 if consumer use is to expand. We will also need to improve and market the growing volume of livestock feed product (Distillers Dried Grains and Solubles or DDGS) being created as a co-product of ethanol production. This is a symptom of our success, however, the livestock industry is one of our best customers so we must address this soon," he said.

If the new checkoff rate is approved DDGS and E85 market development will be expanded significantly to:

Identify and implement ways to allow DDGS to be better utilized by the livestock industry.

Increase E85 programming to allow continued ethanol growth. Ethanol could saturate the current 10% blended fuel market within years.

Increase DDGS exports to other state and foreign destinations. This is needed to maintain and grow a viable ethanol industry in Illinois, according to ICGA.