Bob Kraft

As the short session of the Indiana General Assembly winds down, several key pieces of legislation that will impact farmers are in need of action. Indiana Farm Bureau is calling on its members to lobby lawmakers on two key issues: farmland assessment and inheritance taxes.  The State Department of Local Government Finance has released new regulations on the assessment of farmland that take into account soil fertility factors. These new regulations were announced just a few weeks before assessment was to begin.  “The bottom line is that this would increase assessment by as much as 60% in some cases,” says Bob Kraft with Indiana Farm Bureau.  Legislators in both houses are upset with the last minute revisions.  In the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-Buck Creek) offered an amendment to HB 1190 (Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville & Sen. Hershman) that will delay the effective date of the new DLGF rules by a year.  House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jeff Espich has indicated that he expects a similar amendment on a Senate bill in his committee. Kraft is urging farmers to contact lawmakers to express support for a delay in the implementation of the new rules.

Another issue requires farmer support is efforts to eliminate the Indiana inheritance tax. On Thursday in the House Ways & Means Committee, Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero) presented SB 293 rather than the author, Sen. Jim Smith (R-Charlestown).  SB 293 includes changes to the exemptions in the inheritance tax law and contains phase-down language.  As the bill left the Senate, it does not completely eliminate the inheritance tax.  Farm Bureau’s Katrina Hall testified in favor of the bill, noting how dramatically IFB members are affected by inheritance tax and stressed preference for the complete elimination language that is included in HB 1199, authored by Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero).  HB 1199 phases-out the inheritance tax over 10 years starting two years from now.  HB 1199 has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in the Senate. Kraft is urging Farm Bureau members to lobby lawmakers for the elimination of the tax.

Kraft said IFB is also seeking farmer support for legislation that would prevent cities and towns from having jurisdiction over aquifers.  The House Utilities Committee heard testimony on SB 132 (Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield & Rep. Dave Wolkins, R-Winona Lake).  The bill will require the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to collect, compile, and publicize in the aggregate data regarding water use by water utilities in Indiana.  The controversial portion of the bill is a section that would exclude underground aquifers from the definition of “watercourse” as that term is used in several statutes that give cities and towns the authority to regulate “watercourses” ten miles outside their municipal boundaries.  A Supreme Court decision last fall concluded that municipalities had the authority to regulate aquifers.  This means that a town could require a farmer to obtain a permit to pump water from the aquifer with a well on the farmer’s property, or they could prohibit the withdrawal of water altogether.  It could also set up a race among municipalities that are within ten miles of one another to claim the aquifer first.  Farm Bureau is one of the strongest voices calling for the legislative reversal of the Supreme Court’s decision to include aquifers in the definition of “watercourse.” At the hearing last Wednesday, Farm Bureau’s Justin Schneider testified in support of the bill.  The Indiana Association of Cities & Towns and several mayors testified against reversing the Supreme Court’s decision.  Following a lengthy hearing, Committee Chair Jack Lutz (R-Anderson) decided not to take a vote on the bill but announced that a vote would be taken this week.  Legislators are being asked by the mayors of the municipalities in their districts to vote against SB 132.  All legislators need to hear from their constituents who support the bill.

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Joe Kelsay

This is National FFA Week, and State Officials Kicked off the celebration in Indianapolis on Monday. Director of the State Department of Agriculture Joe Kelsay, along with members of the Shenandoah FFA chapter, hosted an old fashioned pancake breakfast at the FFA merchandise center.  For Kelsay, a former state FFA officer, it was an especially meaningful event because of his strong roots in FFA, “My grandfather was the first FFA state president our chapter at  Whiteland high school ever had and my dad also had an outstanding FFA career.” Kelsay says his own FFA experience has changed his life and provided him with skills he uses every day.

Kelsay says involvement in FFA does more than just teach vocational agriculture, “It includes premier leadership skills such as public speaking, knowing how to run a meeting, or just communicating with a group of people.” He told HAT those skills are not as well taught in any other situation. The Johnson County dairy farmer says that is why FFA is playing such a vital role in shaping the leaders of tomorrow’s food, fiber, and fuel industries.

He said agriculture has a lot to offer the world in terms of solutions to food security and energy solutions. Yet, the kind of skills that agriculture will need in the future are being crafted today in FFA members. He added areas without FFA chapters need to be told about the great work FFA is doing, “We need to tell these school districts that FFA is teaching the kind of skills that agriculture of the future will demand.”    Kelsay called FFA one of agriculture’s best kept secrets, and it looks to stay that way since the only media covering the event was ag media. FFA week activities are taking place all over the state, and the Indiana State Officer team is busy traveling this week to many of those local chapter events. Watch for more FFA week coverage here at Hoosier Ag  Today.

The breakfast event drew many former FFA members as well as representatives of the national organization. Students from the Shenandoah FFA chapter cooked and served a pancake and bacon breakfast with pure Indiana produced maple syrup provided by Tim Burton.

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Tom Buis,

On Friday, the EPA cleared the way for 15% ethanol to be blended into the US fuel supply.  After a year of government red tape, the so-called “blend wall” has been breached.  Fuel manufacturers now have the freedom to begin blending 15% ethanol into gasoline, rather than the current 10%.  Tom Buis, with Growth Energy, says this is good news, “This was a hurdle we had to clear, and now the focus move to the fuel retailers.” While the EPA must approve individual fuel blends, Buis said it now becomes a market driven issue rather than a regulatory one.

But the growth of E-15 still faces challenges: many states have not changed their laws to allow the higher ethanol blend and the program is voluntary. Buis told HAT it will really depend on fuel makers to choose whether to increase the blend or not, “Now it is up to the retailers and individual fuel companies to register for approval to sell E-15. With ethanol selling an average of 76 cents a gallon cheaper than gasoline and $4 a gallon gasoline on the horizon, we’d encourage all Americans to ask their local filling station how soon they will see more-affordable E15.”  Growth Energy says the move to E-15 will create about 140,000 jobs and reduce foreign oil imports by 7 billion gallons.

Buis says, in the end, it will be consumers that will drive the demand for higher blends of ethanol. “This is a remarkable achievement by America’s clean, renewable fuels industry as moving to E15 results in reduced dependence on foreign oil, jobs here in America and consumer savings at the pump,” Buis said. “Growth Energy commits right now to the American public that we will work with the retail industry to bring E-15 to their stations. Now with a clear path forward toward a federally-approved, lower-cost fuel blend available as an antidote to the record gasoline prices we’re told to expect, we are encouraged that retailers will move quickly.”

Growth Energy first filed its petition seeking federal approval to increase blends of ethanol in fuel from the current 10 percent (E-10) to 15 percent (E-15) in March 2009. After rigorous testing of E-15’s impact on engine durability and auto emissions systems, EPA approved E-15 for voluntary use in all autos and light trucks built since 2001 – which today is more than 70 percent of all vehicles on the road. Growth Energy completed a host of other ensuing regulatory measures, including significant analysis and development of data and literature on the emissions and health effects of E-15.

Roz Leeck

Rosiland Leeck, Biofuels Program Manager with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, says Indiana corn farmers are working hard to educate consumers about the benefits of ethanol blends, “We are in a society where consumers really drive demand, so we are going to meet that demand at all levels.”  Indiana law already allows the blending of up to 15% ethanol in gasoline. Leeck says growth in the ethanol market will continue to take some time.

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Chris Jeffries

Record attendance continues at the National Farm Machinery Show underway this week at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Over 330,000 people attended the show on the first day with an even larger crowd on hand for Thursday. Corn, was a big topic of interest as growers lined up at seed company exhibits to discuss final plans for the 2012 season. Chris Jeffries with Seed Consultants says his customers in the eastern cornbelt are thinking corn, “Our sales are on a record pace.”  He told HAT that the economics favor corn and he expects an increase in corn acreage in Indiana and Ohio this year.

Growers who stopped by the Seed Consultants display are anxious to get planting started, but many face some serious barriers. Jeffries says many face problems from the lack of fall tillage, “Even some of our no-till guys have ruts from the wet harvest that they will have to deal with before planting.”  He said, however, everything depends on the spring weather, “There are still fields here in the east that have a lot of water on them.” The wet conditions and mild winter may also present disease and insect problems. This stands in contrast to the western cornbelt where it has been very dry and the farmers are ready for planters to roll.

Seed Consultants has enjoyed considerable success with its corn hybrids. Several of their growers placed high in the NCGA yield contest. Jeffries says their business model comes from their name: their representatives work individually with growers to provide advice and recommendations based on the specific operation.  He said, with 8 different test sites in Indiana and more in Ohio, they can make recommendations based on local research results.

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