Many ag retailers are considering how to best account for the new 75 cent assessment for the Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC).  The changes to the Illinois Fertilizer Act created NREC and the law requires that 75 cents on each ton of fertilizer sold to the end user be accounted for and remitted to NREC when you report your fertilizer tons on your semi-annual tonnage reports.  This is in addition to the 25 cent inspection that currently exists and is payable to the IDA to fund the fertilizer inspection and quality assurance programs. 

 

Please remember that the 75 cents per ton for NREC is not a tax.  This money does not go to state government in any way, it will be managed by NREC which is a private entity.  NREC is governed by nine voting members:  three farmers, three fertilizer representatives, an IL CCA representative, a specialty fertilizer representative and the Director of the IL Dept of Agriculture.  When you remit your required tonnage payments to NREC, you will receive an invoice from IDA directing you to send the money to NREC's P.O. Box address, not to the IDA.  Because the NREC assessment does not go to IDA, it cannot be swept and spent for anything other than approved nutrient research and education programs. 
 

If you choose to list the 75 cents per ton on the invoice, we encourage you to describe it as an assessment, please do not call it a tax.  We should not give farmers the wrong impression about NREC.  It took a tremendous effort on behalf of IFCA and our ag organization allies to take the fertilizer resarch & education program away from the state so that it would no longer be used to pay the state's bills.  We need the support of ag retailers and your farmer-customers to ensure that NREC is highly successful in its goals to enhance nutrient  utilization, increase crop production, and protect water quality. 

 

The pressure to reduce nutrient losses is intense; all the agricultural organizations supported the creation of NREC and it will be the mechanism we use to meet the challenges we face to improve yields and reduce nutrient losses to the environment.  The stakes are high.  The Upper Mississipppi River Basin states, including Illinois, are already involved in a lawsuit that seeks to set numeric nutrient standards in rivers, lakes and streams.  Research, on-farm discovery, outreach to crop advisors and growers and communicating effectively with the government and the public about our science-based nutrient practices is the only way we can ensure a future in which the ag industry leads the way in determing the most effective nutrient use practices rather than the government or the judicial branch determining our future. 

 

IFCA has a one page explanation/recommendation sheet on how to handle the NREC assessment.  This is posted on our website http://www.ifca.com along with a tri-fold brochure explaining NREC.  In a few days we will also have a 5 minute video that you can share with your customers about the importance of NREC to Illinois agriculture.  If you have any questions about NREC or the nutrient challenges facing our industry, please contact Jean Payne at 309.827.2774.  Thank you for helping spread the positive message about NREC.