Ethanol plant to receive $180,000 incentive funding

Northeast Missouri Grain Processors, which will open the ethanol production facility near Macon, will receive an initial incentive payment of $180,000, than $250,000 per month when it reaches full production capacity. The plant is expected to process about 6 million bushels of corn a year into 15 million gallons of ethanol.

The Missouri Qualified Fuel Ethanol Producer Incentive Fund was established in 1988 to encourage ethanol production in the state, but was not funded until Carnahan approved $3 million for the program in 1993. In 1996, Carnahan recommended an additional $3 million to support a second ethanol plant that is scheduled to begin production, in Craig, near St. Joseph, before the end of the year. In addition, Carnahan last year signed legislation that extended the incentive fund's expiration date to Dec. 31, 2007.

Under the incentive fund, ethanol producers are eligible for a maximum annual grant of $3.125 million for five years.

Ethanol production will help provide a consistent demand for corn, while also adding value to one of the state's most plentiful agricultural commodities, Carnahan said.

"With ethanol, not only do we put more money in corn producers' pockets, but we increase our energy security, because we are replacing oil imports with a cleaner-burning domestic source of renewable energy," Carnahan said.

The plant will create jobs and a demand for goods and services in the Macon area, boosting economic activity by an estimated $31 million a year, Carnahan said.