LANSING -- Corn farmers are gearing up for a big boost in the market as they wait for an ethanol plant to open in Manistee.

"We're all really anxious," said Allan O'Shea, chair of the Manistee County Board of Commissioners. Farmers are "chomping at the bit," he said.

Ethanol is an alternative fuel that can be made from vegetable oils; mostly commonly corn oil.

The ethanol plant is scheduled to be built next to Manistee Lake in the city of Manistee, O'Shea said.

The site is an industrial area and isn't near houses, he said.

The plant site has been cleared, and all necessary permits and contracts have been signed, said Ben Brower, vice president of business development for North Star, the Traverse City company assembling the project.

"We just need financing," he said. "Construction could start as early as fall."

Pat McCarry, a corn and livestock farmer in Copemish said, "People are looking forward to it."

Some hay fields are already being torn up to be replanted with corn, McCarry said.

"We're looking at putting in more acres ourselves," he said.

The price of corn has already risen significantly. It's going for around $4 a bushel, about a $1.50 increase from the average, McCarry said.

"Some say it could go up to $5 this summer," he said.

Brower said, the ethanol plant has been designed to function well with surrounding buildings and the lake.

It's next to a power plant, and uses both the electricity and the steam from its neighbor, he said.

The leftover mash from ethanol production will be sold to feed cattle in surrounding areas, and even the carbon dioxide byproduct will be shipped off and used underground to find oil, Brower said.

"It's a win-win situation," O'Shea said. "There's a good synergy there."

Other ethanol plants may emit unpleasant smells, but this one will use a new dry process that produces less odor, O'Shea said. "It smells a little bit like baking bread."

As soon as financing gets squared away, construction will start, Brower said.