Today, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, a group of farmers that manages Illinois corn checkoff funds, finalized a goal evaluation process. The ICMB funds projects based on a set of twelve goals and evaluates each program based on its contribution to the completion of each goal.

“Our goals help to keep us on track and prevent us from funding projects that might seem like a good idea, but do little to forward the course of corn marketing and utilization,” said ICMB Chairman Kent Kleinschmidt, an Emden, IL farmer.

During this week’s evaluation process, the board reviewed goals relating to ethanol efficiency gains, the health of the livestock industry, and improving locks and dams. Within the past three years, the board can document success in improving the efficiency of ethanol production and maintaining livestock numbers in Illinois, even increasing the pork inventory to an all-time high since 1998!

“While we celebrate success, we also realize that other market and economic factors contribute to these changes. Now, we determine where we want to head in the next three years in these areas, write new goals, and get to work!” Kleinschmidt said.

The mission of the ICMB is to create opportunities for increasing Illinois corn value and utilization. In order to fulfill our mission the organization administers the state checkoff program, identifies and invests in market development, research, and commercialization activities, evaluates the impact each investment generates, cooperates with major commodity organizations on state, national and international market development efforts, and disseminates timely information. The ICMB serves the interests of and is accountable to all Illinois corn producers.

Our current twelve goals are as follows, with goals 3, 7, and 12 being evaluated, rewritten and approved during this meeting:

Goal 1: Expand corn to ethanol usage to 5.5 billion bushels by 2014.

Goal 2: By 2015, increase by 400 million bushels the amount of IL corn processed for food, feed, and fuel in-state.

Goal 3: Reduce the average cost of producing ethanol from corn by 10 cents/gallon, 5 cents by production efficiencies and 5 cents by co-product value gains by 2016.

Goal 4: Improve consumers’ confidence in and trust of farmers and their farming methodologies by increasing the number of influential advocates in non-traditional farm audiences by 100 people by 2015.

Goal 5: Ensure that corn starch ethanol qualifies as an advanced biofuel by 2014.

Goal 6: Support research that illustrates the value and sustainability of modern farming methodologies, delivering outcomes in 5 areas by 2013.

Goal 7: Start Construction of two new lock replacements within the Upper Mississippi River Basin (one on the Miss. and one on the IL) by 2016.

Goal 8: Improve infrastructure to allow corn and corn products to travel more efficiently within the state, country, and across the globe by 2014.

Goal 9: Inform a growing world population of the benefits of the improving technology of grain production.

Goal 10: Invest in research that presents science-based, voluntary solutions to regulatory concerns.

Goal 11: Increase corn equivalent exports to 3 billion bushels by 2014.

Goal 12: Increase corn and corn co-product usage by the domestic and international livestock sector by 5 percent by 2016.