05/02/2024 (Brown Field) - Indiana agricultural organizations prioritized the need for a state biofuel tax incentive during Monday’s Bacon Bar and Brunch with lawmakers at the statehouse.

Marshall County farmer Joe Stoller recently testified in support HB 1315 and tells Brownfield it would provide a tax credit for retailers supplying ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel.

“Trying to drive demand for our soybeans through the use of biodiesel,” he says.  “We’re trying to get more available pumps. Indiana is already a leader in biodiesel and production, but we’d like to sell more locally.”

Stoller is currently the Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee Chair.

Hancock County farmer and Indiana Corn Growers Association President Chris Cherry says he’d like to see incentives for local fuel sources like in other Midwestern states.

“A lot of the states around us already are using that blend are higher,” he says. “In Iowa, it’s just common, Minnesota, they are up to like an E20 or even E25 blend instead of E15.”

Steve Howell with the Indiana Corn Growers Association and Indiana Soybean Alliance tells Brownfield the annual event is a showcase of the state’s agricultural industry.

“We team up with all the other commodity groups,” he explains.  “It’s really a show of force that farmers are going to stand together when it comes to our industry here in Indiana.”

The organizations estimate the legislation could add nearly $225 million in economic activity from biodiesel and grow demand for 51 million more bushels of corn for ethanol production.

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