The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual convention in Kansas City is one of Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen’s favorite events of the year. This year the big issue that everyone was talking about was the election and how it might impact the industry. On Tuesday, November 8, 2016 Donald Trump was voted in as …
EPA Announces #RFS Point of Obligation Decision
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed denying a petition to change the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Under the current rule, oil refiners and importers are the entities obligated to blend more renewable fuel into the transportation fuel supply under the RFS, but they were seeking to change that obligation to entities that own gasoline …
Meet New #Biodiesel Board CEO
Prior to being named CEO of the National Biodiesel Board this week, Donnell Rehagen had been the organization’s number two man for 12 years, the behind-the-scenes guy who got stuff done. In all the years we have covered the National Biodiesel Conference, which Rehagen coordinated as chief operating officer, we have only interviewed him a couple of times. Now that …
Sponsors Pleased with #ExEx16
The Renewable Fuels Association and the U.S. Grains Council are the co-sponsors and hosts of the biennial Export Exchange, but dozens of other companies and organizations help make it happen with their support. CHS, Inc. markets ethanol co-products for animal feed from two of their own plants and 21 others. “We market somewhere around four million metric tons,” said CHS …
Discussing A-Maizing DDGS at #ExEx16
Research continues to show the value of dried distillers grains (DDGS) as a high quality animal feed, and the need to increase global demand for DDGS was a hot topic of discussion at this year’s Export Exchange. Dr. Jerry Shurston, professor at the University of Minnesota and Consultant for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), gave a presentation during this year’s …
Sharing the Benefits of #Ethanol with Mexico
Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently hosted a workshop in Mexico City to help local authorities determine how ethanol fits into their country’s energy mix. The two day workshop featured the latest environmental research on ethanol, technological advances in production, distribution and commercialization of ethanol for mixture with fuels, and how other countries …
New @NationalCorn President Attends #ExEx16
The new president of the National Corn Growers Association says growing demand continues to be a big priority for farmers. “The crop is bigger than we’ve seen before, we just keep being able to produce these records,” said Wesley Spurlock, a corn farmer from Texas who just took over as NCGA president at the beginning of October. “Demand is what …
Elanco on Food Production Challenges at #ExEx16
One of the speakers at Export Exchange 2016 last week was Todd Armstrong, Senior Director of Global Market Access at Elanco Animal Health, who talked about balancing customer expectations with the realities of a growing population. Armstrong discussed some of the major challenges facing food producers today, such as the population growth, technology convergence, and sustainability concerns, and considered how …
#ExEx16 Panel on Global DDGS Utilization
A panel of U.S. Grains Council consultants traded international perspectives on the utilization of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains (DDGS) in various countries during Export Exchange 2016. The panel included (pictured left to right) Indonesia consultant Dr. Budi Tangendjaja, Moroccan consultant Dr. A. Ait Boulahsen, USGC Global Trade manager Alvaro Cordero and moderator Kevin Roepke, USGC regional director for …
#Ethanol Report from #ExEx16
Export Exchange 2016, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), was held this past week in Detroit, Michigan with over 400 attendees, including some 200 international buyers and end users from more than 35 countries. The event is held every other year to bring together international buyers and domestic suppliers of coarse grains and …