Corn production for this year was cut by four percent in the latest forecast out this morning from USDA, a bigger drop than expected by the industry. Corn production is now forecast at 12.7 billion bushels, down 3 percent from last year’s record production of 13.1 billion bushels. Yields are now expected to average 155.8 bushels per acre, down 6.7 …
Ag Secretary to Make “Major” Biofuels Speech
Later this month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will give a “major speech on domestic biofuel production.” According to USDA, Vilsack will discuss the progress USDA and other federal agencies are making toward achieving the 36 billion gallon biofuel production goal mandated by the Renewable Fuels Standard and new efforts by the Obama administration to bolster the industry and reduce U.S. …
Second Look at USDA Ethanol Energy Balance Report
A report released by USDA in June on the energy balance of ethanol plants is getting a second look this week, thanks to a post on the USDA blog. The second look is well deserved, since the report, titled “2008 Energy Balance for the Corn Ethanol Industry,” got less coverage than it deserves when it was first released. The findings …
USDA to Fund Rural Renewable Energy Studies
The USDA is providing funding to look at the feasibility of renewable energy systems for agriculture producers and rural small businesses. Grants of up to $50,000 each for a total of $3 million will be made available under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP): “Renewable energy production represents a promising revenue source for America’s producers while meeting the nation’s …
Record Corn Crop and More Ethanol Production
Some weather issues over the past month caused USDA to slightly lower the forecast for this year’s corn crop, but it is still expected to be a record at 13.16 billion bushels. The average yield was lowered due to average 162.5 bushels per acre, down 2.5 bushels from the previous month and 2.2 bushels below last year’s record of 164.7 …
Ethanol Plant Receives Grant to Use Biomass for Power
An ethanol plant in Iowa has received a nearly $2 million federal grant to use renewable biomass to replace the fossil fuels needed to run the biorefinery. The USDA announced that the award comes from the Repowering Assistance Program, part of the 2008 Farm Bill: Lincolnway Energy, LLC, based in Nevada, Iowa, has been selected to receive a $1.9 million …
Federal Ag & Energy Depts. Team Up for Bioenergy
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy have teamed up to hand out some research awards to designed to improve and accelerate genetics in plants for bioenergy production. This USDA release says the announcement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steven Chu will make $8.9 million available: “Cost-effective, sustainable biofuels are crucial to building a clean energy economy,” …
USDA Proposes Blending Solar and Wind Power
A USDA scientist believes wind and solar power generating systems could be set up to complement each other. A study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) agricultural engineer Brian Vick at the agency’s Renewable Energy and Manure Management Research Unit in Bushland, Texas says that by using solar power during doldrum days and wind at night could help offset the two …
Bioenergy and Ethanol Market News from USDA
Producers, consumers and distributors of bioenergy products can access crucial data through the Bioenergy Market News Reports published by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The Ethanol reports include data for six regions – Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and the Eastern Corn Belt. Each report publishes daily corn bids, daily distiller grain prices and a weekly ethanol price. The …
Biofuels Videos from Obama Administration
The Obama administration and USDA have released a couple of videos highlighting the importance of biofuels to the nation and what the government is doing to get us down the road to advanced renewable fuels. In a short YouTube video, USDA highlights current production and consumption capacities as well as projections to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) which calls …