GREENVILLE, Ohio -- A Darke County hog farmer said without corn he is days away from ceasing his hog raising operation.

He said that area grain farmers are selling their corn to the new ethanol plant in Greenville.

At age 9, Tim Blair of Liberty Township raised his first pig as a 4-H project in 1965. Today, Blair raises between 800 and 1,200 pigs at a time on his farm, but he is about to call it quits because he can’t find enough corn for feed.

Blair said all available corn in Darke County is going to the new ethanol plant, which Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland recently paid a visit to.

Farmers in the area are selling their corn feed to the ethanol plant because they can get top dollar for the product, compared to lesser money from the hog raisers such as Blair.

The ethanol plant not only gets corn grain from Darke County farmers, but also from the surrounding area. So, the shortage of corn to be used as feed affects hog raisers through the farming community.

For a market hog, Blair said he gets about 40 cents a pound, and it takes about 58 cents of feed to get that pound.