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Indiana lawmakers advance fallback checkoff legislation for soybean and pork producers

Recently introduced legislation in the Indiana General Assembly could help provide a safety net for two state commodity organizations. 

Central Indiana farmer David Hardin says Senate Bill 55 would create a state-level soybean and pork market development program.

“In the event that the federal act and order checkoff motion act were to go away, we would then have language here in the state that would mirror the federal program that we’ve had,” he says. “There wouldn’t be any kind of an increase in the checkoff rate.”

 He tells Brownfield Indiana is the only major soybean producing state in the country without fallback checkoff legislation.

“We’re worried about a lot of the research projects that we have going on with our partners at Purdue University,” he says. “We’re looking to find new defenses for the soybean plant, such as soybean cyst nematode and other soybean diseases.”

Hardin says Indiana is the only major soybean producing state in the country without fallback checkoff legislation.

The bill was recently passed in the Senate and is now headed to the House for consideration.

AUDIO: David Hardin, Indiana Soybean Alliance