N. MANCHESTER, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) -- Wabash County is now officially doing its part to help our nation become less dependent on foreign oil.

Farmers between the towns of North Manchester and Wabash have a new place to sell their grain.

This ethanol facility run by Poet Biorefining out of South Dakota, started receiving loads of corn from local farm operations promptly at 7:30 a.m. Trucks were actually lined up to make their deliveries.

For now, the grain is simply being stored, with plans to begin converting it to ethanol in mid-September.

The product being brought in has to go through a brief inspection.

Jodi Heath/Commodity Manager: " Trucks pull in at the scale house and we'll find out who they're hauling for. We'll take their sample at that time, and grade the grain. They they'll pull out to the scale, we'll get their weight and send them on back and around here in to the pit, where they'll dump their trucks. And the whole process, when they head back out to weigh out should take about 8 to 10 minutes."

One local farmer said most of his counterparts in that area are very excited about the ethanol plant, and that will likely be the first place they look to sell their corn to, more so than food processors.

It's about getting the highest price for what you grow.

These plants are becoming more prevalent in this area.

There are already plants in Portland and Marion, and another will be coming on line very soon in Bluffton, changing the dynamics of the farming business in northern Indiana and Ohio.

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