There are many creative and fun events on the horizon as we approach Earth Day. Those of you in California may want to check out Wine and Shine 2009, a solar tour and wine tasting that features local wines and three innovative solar energy systems that are helping three featured wineries save hundreds of dollars in energy costs. The event …
ICM Tapped to Manage AgStar Ethanol Plants
ICM has been tapped by AgStar Financial Services to oversee plant operations and maintenance for the six plants it acquired as part of the VeraSun Energy bankruptcy. AgStar is not allowed to operate the plants due to federal regulations. The Company plans on selling the plants, located in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Michigan to other buyers over the …
Ask the Expert Event Features Ethanol
The very first “Ask the Expert” event will take place at the National Agriculture Hall of Fame March 28 from 1-4 p.m. Featured speakers will be Dennis Alt of Show Me Ethanol and Scott Zaremba, owner of the Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels station in Lawrence, Kansas. Both will focus on ethanol. “Ask the Expert” is an informal discussion designed …
Case IH Collecting Cobs
When it comes to harvesting equipment for Case IH, Scott Acker is who you want to talk to. He’s their Director, Harvesting Marketing. I spoke with him at POET’s Project LIBERTY field day right after he answered a bunch of questions from farmers who were attending. Sam says POET approached them with the idea of collecting cobs to make ethanol …
Deere Designing Corn Cob Harvest Equipment
There are several farm equipment manufacturers working with POET on corn cob harvesting solutions. One of them is John Deere. Of the current options for harvesting/collecting the cobs, Deere is working on the corn cob mix kit (CCM) option. It’s basically an attachment to the combine according to John Deere’s Barry Nelson, who was attending the POET Project LIBERTY field …
Patriot Ethanol is Processor Preferred
Illinois’ newest ethanol plant adds to a growing list of facilities that are part of the Monsanto Processor Preferred Network. Patriot Renewable Fuels CEO Gene Griffith says they hope to use as much corn as possible from local farmers to produce ethanol at the new 100 million gallon per year plant. “We will need approximately 215,000 acres worth of corn …
ADM and Brazilian Company to Produce Sugarcane Ethanol
Archer Daniels Midland Company and Brazilian agricultural company Grupo Cabrera have formed a joint venture to produce ethanol from sugarcane. The joint venture will construct two processing complexes, each consisting of a sugarcane plantation, a sugar mill, an ethanol distillery and a biomass- powered cogeneration facility to provide power and steam. The complexes will be located in Limeira Do Oeste …
Biotech for Biofuels
Pioneer Hi-Bred International continues to work on increasing agricultural productivity to both feed and fuel the world. Pioneer president Paul Schickler spoke on a panel at the World Food Prize symposium in Des Moines Wednesday and one of his points is that biotechnology can “address both the food availability issue as well as making a meaningful impact on our dependence …
Ethanol in Focus at AEM Ag Executive Forum
Ethanol and biofuels in general were in the spotlight at a forum for agribusiness executives held this week in St. Louis by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. About 100 executives of farm equipment companies and other agribusinesses attended the one day event, which featured a number of presentations that focused on biofuels. Even those speakers who were addressing other topics …
Seed Summit Held to Meet Needs of Industries
A summit was held last week in Chicago to address the role of seed technology in meeting the growing demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel. The goal of the American Seed Research Summit was to bring together research leaders from industry, academia and government to identify major seed research challenges and to develop a national strategy and action plan …