At their respective December meetings Indiana corn farmers elected leadership for this year.
Herb Ringel of Wabash was re-elected president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association by the board at its meeting. This will be Ringel's second term as president.
Also elected to the ICGA board were: vice president, Mike Nichols of Rockport; treasurer, George Morton of Lebanon; and secretary, David Gottbrath of Pekin.
The ICGA board works to develop sound policies that protect and promote the interest of Indiana corn farmers and consists of farmer-directors from across the state.
"With the challenges to the Renewable Fuel Standard and lack of movements on the farm bill, it is critical for our lawmakers to hear from Indiana corn farmers on policy that affects how we raise our crops, how we can compete in a global economy and how we build new markets for our corn crop," Ringel says.
"As we move into 2014, our main focus is to watch the RFS as the Environmental Protection Agency seeks to drastically cut the amount of ethanol that petroleum companies are required to use. This has a direct effect on each and every corn farmer as we have seen corn prices dip below the cost of production since the announcement," Ringel adds.
Dennis Maple of Greentown was elected president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council at its December board of directors meeting.
Also elected were David Gottbrath of Pekin as vice president, Mike Beard of Frankfort as secretary and Gerald Gauck of Milan as treasurer.
The ICMC is responsible for investing state corn checkoff funds in programs that strengthen the demand for corn and corn products. With its new three-year strategic plan, the ICMC board is focusing on five major areas, including ethanol, livestock, grain marketing, new uses and production issues.
"As we move into the first year of a new strategic plan, I see tremendous opportunities for our corn checkoff organization to implement programs to enhance the value of the corn we raise in Indiana," Maple said.