Separate studies conducted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the University of California Riverside show ethanol blends reduce toxic tailpipe emissions by up to 50 percent, significantly improving air quality and protecting public health. The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) commissioned both studies, which provide evidence that adding higher than the standard 10 percent ethanol blend to gasoline can significantly …
AEM Releases First-Quarter Sales Data
The latest sales data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) shows total U.S. 2-wheel drive tractor sales gained four percent for March compared to last year, while 4-wheel drive tractors sales dropped five percent. Self-propelled combine sales declined 20 percent. First-quarter 2018 U.S. sales were essentially flat for the smaller-size tractors and 100-plus HP 2-wheel drive tractors declined about …
House Ag Committee Unveils Agriculture and Nutrition Act
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) today introduced the first draft of a new farm bill, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2). ““The farm bill keeps faith with our nation’s farmers and ranchers through the current agriculture recession by providing certainty and helping producers manage the enormous risks that are inherent in agriculture,” said Rep. Conaway. …
Education an Important Goal of Fly-In
2018 marked the 10th year for the American Coalition for Ethanol‘s Annual Fly-In to Washington, D.C., and Iowa livestock producer and ethanol investor Bill Couser has been to most of those events over the years. “I think the most important thing we do when we come to these fly-ins is educate people,” said Couser, who owns Couser Cattle Company in …
Fly-In Participants Passionate About Ethanol
Retired civil engineer and ethanol investor Tom Blazek of Louisiana has a passion for clean air and clean fuels. “I’m interested in cleaning up our environment and we can do that by cleaning up our motor fuels,” said Blazek, who attended the American Coalition for Ethanol‘s Annual Fly-In to Washington, D.C. for the first time this year. “Motor fuels are …
China Strikes Back
From almonds to frozen edible swine offal, the majority of the 128 products on which China imposed retaliatory tariffs Monday are agricultural, making farmers bear the brunt of the reaction to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs. “This is a tax on American farmers, brought about by protectionist trade policies,” said Farmers for Free Trade (FFT) Co-Chair Max Baucus. “American farmers …
Sen. Heitkamp Opposes RIN Price Cap
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) is one of several lawmakers on Capitol Hill who received a visit from a team of American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) members in DC for their annual fly-in, and she was overjoyed to be presented with one of the organization’s special corn kernel cracking display for her office. Sen. Heitkamp is obviously a friend of ethanol, …
President Proclaims National Ag Day
This morning U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, along with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, presented a proclamation signed by President Trump naming the first day of spring National Ag Day. Cindy was attending and will have more to add later today. The photo is courtesy of @SecretarySonny‘s Twitter account! Also pictured with the proclamation is Spencer Flood, Minnesota FFA. This …
Northey Takes Oath of USDA Office
It was a long time coming, but finally Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue administered the oath of office to Bill Northey to serve as the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service (FFAS) at USDA. Northey has served as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, and is a former president of the National Corn Growers Association. “After months of waiting, I’m …
Generating D3 RINS from Corn Kernel Fiber
Producing cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber is where many ethanol plants are heading. But getting EPA approval on that type of project is not always easy. Jim Ramm of EcoEngineers explained why he believes this is the future of the industry at the 2018 National Ethanol Conference. “It makes sense as an industry to maximize the return on the …