A group of 17 farmers from Canada, Honduras, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, United Kingdom, Uruguay, US, Zambia, and Zimbabwe had the chance to visit a livestock operation with an ethanol plant next door.
The annual Global Farmer Roundtable, organized by Truth About Trade & Technology (TATT), makes Couser Cattle Company a regular stop for the international farmers each year. TATT Chairman Emeritus Dean Kleckner, former president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, is a big supporter of ethanol himself. “I’m a believer in ethanol from corn,” said Kleckner during an interview at World Food Prize, where the roundtable is held each year. “The corn that is used for ethanol, a lot of that comes back to farmers in the form of distillers grains.”
Couser Cattle Company owner Bill Couser was instrumental in starting the farmer-owned Lincolnway Energy ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa, which is located next to his operation so he can take full advantage of using distillers grains as feed for his livestock.