The lines were long today at the opening of the first blender pump in southern Illinois, according to Twitter updates from Illinois Corn Growers’ Tricia Braid Terry (agchick) at the scene. The pump in Sullivan is the first of 20 such pumps planned in the state in a pilot program approved by the Illinois Department of Agriculture with funding from the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest and the Corn Marketing Board.

Each two-sided pump offers both regular unleaded gas blended with 10 percent ethanol plus a flex-fuel option that dispenses E85, E50, or E30 for E85-capable FFVs by blending regular unleaded gasoline with E85 from a second tank.

Past National Corn Growers Association president Leon Corzine, a grower from Assumption, Illinois, was one of the many who were at the promotion offering discount pricing on ethanol blended fuel and $10.00 E85 coupons for owners of Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs).

During the official ribbon cutting ceremony, state officials and corn grower representatives addressed the success story of Illinois corn farmers and the Illinois ethanol industry partnering with petroleum marketers to increase consumer choice.