NASHVILLE – Corn grown in Tennessee will now be promoted on a broader scale after state producers approved a 1-cent-per-bushel assessment to create a corn checkoff program aimed at improving and promoting their product, state Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton said.
Templeton authorized the referendum at the request of the Tennessee Corn Growers Association, the state’s largest corn organization, according to a department news release.
“We always welcome input from our partners and industry leaders,” Templeton said. “Tennessee farmers and landowners should have a say in determining the future of their business. We’re proud that they were given the opportunity to do so.”
Tennessee corn farmers or landowners who share in the production costs or the proceeds of the sale of corn were eligible to vote. Of the producers who cast ballots at local University of Tennessee Extension offices on Nov. 28 and 29, 63.9 percent supported the measure.
The department said 303 votes out of 474 votes cast were in favor of implementing the checkoff program.