With the stroke of a pen, 20 years of political bickering, name calling, frustration, disappointment, setback, deal-making, sour grapes, bruised egos, and held grudges all came to an end. As Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the corn checkoff into law, he put to rest one of the longest controversies in Indiana agriculture.

Beginning July 1, Indiana farmers will be contributing .5 cent per bushel on corn at the first point of sale. The funds will be used for research and promotion.

As Indiana Corn Grower President Matt Gibson told me, “Now the catch-up begins.” And, believe me, Indiana has a lot of catching up to do.

While there are many areas in which the Hoosier corn industry needs to catch up, none is more glaring than consumer education.
I am referring specifically to education about ethanol. The new law mandates that a portion of the checkoff dollars be used to increase the number of E85 pumps in the state. While this is certainly needed, it is only half the battle. Compared to other states, Indiana consumers are woefully ignorant about ethanol –  how to buy it, where to buy it and why to buy it.

I offer as proof a simple random sampling a friend of mine did at the recent Indianapolis 500. Ken Root, farm broadcaster with WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, conducted a random sampling of fans on race day to test their ethanol IQ. Here is a sample of the comments he got: “It is a worthy cause but it won’t help our energy crisis. Don’t use it.” “I don’t feel one way or another. I don’t think I use it.” “It has environmental side effects. I don’t have a car that will burn it.”

While ethanol was everywhere at the track this year, it seems a good number of the Hoosiers watching the race did not hear the message. Compounding the problem is the fact that you can not buy E85 within two miles of the Speedway.

This should be one of the top priorities for the new checkoff program.

If we are going to develop a renewable fuels industry in this state (using corn or cellulose), we have to start some basic consumer education now. Just as we use checkoff dollars to build demand for beef, pork, dairy and other food products, we must start building demand for the fuel that agriculture is now gearing up to produce.
In addition to some creative and well-funded promotional programs, some practical mandates are needed. For example, millions of Hoosiers are currently clueless that they are using a 10 percent ethanol blend in their cars. That is because there is no label on the pump that tells them their regular gasoline has ethanol blended into it. Iowa mandates that pumps be labeled with such information. As a result, Iowa motorists know there is ethanol in their cars. This simple and inexpensive step could go a long way to improving the ethanol IQ of Hoosier motorists.

Another step would be to mandate that flex fuel vehicles be labeled as flex fuel. Many car owners are unaware they could use E85 fuel. Having recently purchased a new car, I know that it came while a whole package of manuals, pamphlets, and cards. Adding one that explains what flex fuel vehicles can use and what E-85 is would not be difficult.

Some may argue this is not the role for agriculture, but I disagree. It is what we should and must be about – building demand for what we produce. If you are growing corn this year because of the high price, then you should be willing to invest in building and maintaining the demand for renewable fuel.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.