The Indiana Corn Growers Association and Indiana Soybean Alliance will be championing a bill in the upcoming legislative session that will provide tax incentives to retailers who install pumps to offer higher blends of ethanol. Lieutenant Governor candidates Micah Beckwith (R) and Terry Goodin (D) both shared their support of ethanol in Indiana during last week’s debate at the Indiana State Fair.
Beckwith told the crowd, “When it comes to ethanol, one of the things right now, people are being limited by the handcuffs government’s putting on. So, even just jumping from 87 to 88. It’s a government roadblock. And so, if we get the government out of the way, that will increase so much more ethanol production in the state of Indiana.”
Beckwith also touched on sustainable aviation fuel and the roadblock the federal government is putting up there preventing American farmers from participating in that market.
“We’ve got biodiesels that could really go a long way when it comes to aviation fuel, and Indiana could be a leader in that. But it’s going to have to take the state fighting the federal government. Say, ‘Get out of the way. Let us be innovative and let us go down that path.’ And so that’s what we’ll do. I’ll do that as lieutenant governor. Mike Braun will do that as well.”
Goodin said that, for him, it all comes down to education.
“My dream is, and what my hope is, is we don’t just have 10% ethanol. What I would love to be able to see is for our scientists to continue to push where all of the fuel can be made from corn and soybeans. And that’s what I’m talking about- growth on the family farm. So, as we work forward in Indiana, as we move forward in Indiana. We have to figure out those ways, okay, how do we incentivize folks to study this?”
He told the crowd that it was hard for him to say as an IU grad, but Purdue produces some of the best farming scientists in the world. He hopes their studies on ethanol continues.
Watch the debate in its entirety below. It was hosted by AgrIInstitute, livestreamed by Hoosier Ag Today, and sponsored by Ice Miller, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Growers Association, and CountryMark.
