Ethanol was high on the priority list for delegates to the National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress policy meeting last week during the 2013 Commodity Classic. NCGA President Pam Johnson said they will continue to fight the attacks on both the Renewable Fuel Standard and the approval of E15 in the marketplace. “We will not let these attacks stand,” said …
Sorghum for Ethanol Increases
Early March is an important time for the agricultural industry when they come together for Commodity Classic. With the challenges facing both the ag and energy industries, which go hand-in-hand, Terry Swanson, Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers said, “We have to be unified.” When compared to other commodities used to produce biofuels, sorghum growers are a relatively small group. …
New Holland Stresses Support for Ethanol
New Holland Agriculture announced a major new national “blue is back” advertising campaign at the 2012 Commodity Classic last week and stressed the blue tractor company’s support for homegrown fuel. New Holland North American VP Abe Hughes says they believe that more acreage will be planted this year than anytime in recent history and part of the reason is ethanol. …
RFS May Top Farm Bill in Importance to Corn Growers
Maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) may be more important to corn growers than a new farm bill. “If you took a poll of our members, and we may well do that at our Commodity Classic next week, I would say that they view the RFS as more important than the farm bill,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Vice …
Registration Open for Commodity Classic
Registration is now open for the 16th Annual Commodity Classic in Tampa, March 3-5. The annual event will be “smooth sailing” for soybean, corn, wheat and sorghum farmers and biofuels will be a big part of the event, as always. Growers who attend the 2011 Commodity Classic are sure to benefit from the value of attending a trade show with …
Biodiesel – A Great Success Story
“Biodiesel is a great fuel. It’s a great success story,” said Rob Joslin, the President of the American Soybean Association when I asked him during an interview (see below for audio) why biodiesel is so important to our country. While the biodiesel has had great success, it is currently facing a challenge – the $1 per gallon tax credit expired …
Sorghum Poised for Bigger Role in Ethanol Production
Today, about 1/3 of the sorghum crop goes into ethanol production. An interesting little piece of information I picked up when I spoke with Gerald Simonsen, the Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers during Commodity Classic. Sorghum is a good feedstock for ethanol production for several reasons. First, it uses half the amount of water used in corn production and …
Delay on E15 Waiver “Troubling”
The E15 waiver was a hot topic during Commodity Classic and for good reason: EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, in response to a question asked during a Congressional hearing, said she felt they’d be ready to make a decision late summer. Originally, the EPA was to have ruled on the E15 waiver, that would waive the Clean Air Act to allow …
Novozymes Achieves Cellulosic Enzyme Breakthrough
Each day, cellulosic gets closer to becoming commercially viable in the marketplace. Two weeks ago, a major hurdle was overcome with the announcement that Novozymes’ enzyme Cellic® CTec2, used for cellulosic ethanol production with feedstocks such as corn stover and corn cobs, is now 50 cents per gallon. I had the opportunity to learn more about this breakthrough when I …
NCERC – Corn Ethanol Still Has Room to Grow
“Some people believe that corn ethanol is an old technology. We believe just the opposite,” said John Caupert, the Director for the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) during an interview with me at Commodity Classic. “We feel the corn ethanol industry is still in its infancy and through technological advancements, there’s much more to learn and prove in corn ethanol …