Indiana corn farmers are needed to fill leadership positions on the Indiana Corn Marketing Council as five farmers are retiring from the board this year. The Council manages state corn checkoff investments with the goal of strengthening Indiana’s corn industry. Ronnie Mohr, a farmer from Greenfield, IN and a current ICMC board member, says that serving on the board offers Indiana corn farmers the opportunity to influence and lead the state’s corn industry. “Through serving on the ICMC board, farmers have direct input on how to spend checkoff dollars and establish priorities that help farmers with those dollars,” Mohr said. “ICMC has grassroots leadership from Indiana’s farmers, and it is a strong organization because of the engaged board of directors that leads it.”
Board members are involved in determining the promotional, educational, and research activities funded by the corn checkoff. ICMC’s strategic plan focuses on market development, production research, and farmer services. Current priorities include ethanol, transportation infrastructure, production research, livestock promotion, and international exports.
To run for an ICMC director seat, Indiana corn farmers must be a registered Indiana voter, be at least 18 years of age, and reside in the appropriate district. All farmers who submit a valid petition by June 30, 2016 will be listed as a candidate on the election ballot. Voting takes place at Purdue Cooperative Extension Service county offices in August 2016. “We really need all generations of farmers to step up and take an active part in ICMC,” Mohr added. “ICMC is effective because of the farmers who help lead, and we want to involve the new generation of farmers so we address the needs of all Indiana corn producers.”
This year, ICMC has seats open in Districts 1, 4, and 7. There are also two open At-Large seats.
• District 1: The counties of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Pulaski, Jasper, White, Benton, and Newton. Click here to download the form.
• District 4: The counties of Warren, Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Putnam, Owen, Clay, Vigo, Parke, Vermillion, and Fountain. Click here to download the form.
• District 7. The counties of Sullivan, Greene, Daviess, Martin, Knox, Dubois, Pike, Gibson, Warrick, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Posey. Click here to download the form.
• The two open At-Large seats represent the entire state of Indiana. Click here to download the form.
Farmers interested in running for a director position should submit a petition to the ICMC office before June 30, 2016. Farmers can receive a petition by downloading the forms at www.incorn.org/elections or by calling Director of Education and Training, Hannah Vorsilak at the ICMC office at 317-644-2791. Forms are also available at all Purdue County Extension offices.
Newly elected directors will begin a three-year term October 1, 2016. ICMC directors can serve three consecutive full terms or a total of nine consecutive years.
For more information about Indiana Corn Marketing Council, visit www.incorn.org.