According to Robert White, the Market Development Director for the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol is the biggest rural success story for American farmers in the past decade. White discussed with Jamie Johansen how ethanol has been a boon for farmers during the 2013 Commodity Classic held last week in Kissimmee, Florida. Most farmers, says White, understand what impact ethanol has …
Let’s Talk About Ethanol
Ron Lamberty is the Senior Vice President for American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) but he focuses mainly on market development. Lamberty has run gas stations for nearly 30 years and still operates a few. In his role with ACE, he works directly with gas stations to answer any questions they have about ethanol and ethanol blending. ACE, said Lamberty, during …
Growers Asked to Join Grassroots Ethanol Efforts
Tara Chandra with Growth Energy spends much of her time working in the organization’s public policy sector. She helps with their social media efforts and other educational efforts as well as helps their member’s with their policy and communication efforts. Chandra was at the 2013 Commodity Classic that took place in Kissimmee, Florida talking to growers from across the country …
Ethanol High Priority for Corn Farmers
Ethanol was high on the priority list for delegates to the National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress policy meeting last week during the 2013 Commodity Classic. NCGA President Pam Johnson said they will continue to fight the attacks on both the Renewable Fuel Standard and the approval of E15 in the marketplace. “We will not let these attacks stand,” said …
Sorghum for Ethanol Increases
Early March is an important time for the agricultural industry when they come together for Commodity Classic. With the challenges facing both the ag and energy industries, which go hand-in-hand, Terry Swanson, Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers said, “We have to be unified.” When compared to other commodities used to produce biofuels, sorghum growers are a relatively small group. …
New Holland Stresses Support for Ethanol
New Holland Agriculture announced a major new national “blue is back” advertising campaign at the 2012 Commodity Classic last week and stressed the blue tractor company’s support for homegrown fuel. New Holland North American VP Abe Hughes says they believe that more acreage will be planted this year than anytime in recent history and part of the reason is ethanol. …
RFS May Top Farm Bill in Importance to Corn Growers
Maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) may be more important to corn growers than a new farm bill. “If you took a poll of our members, and we may well do that at our Commodity Classic next week, I would say that they view the RFS as more important than the farm bill,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Vice …
Registration Open for Commodity Classic
Registration is now open for the 16th Annual Commodity Classic in Tampa, March 3-5. The annual event will be “smooth sailing” for soybean, corn, wheat and sorghum farmers and biofuels will be a big part of the event, as always. Growers who attend the 2011 Commodity Classic are sure to benefit from the value of attending a trade show with …
Biodiesel – A Great Success Story
“Biodiesel is a great fuel. It’s a great success story,” said Rob Joslin, the President of the American Soybean Association when I asked him during an interview (see below for audio) why biodiesel is so important to our country. While the biodiesel has had great success, it is currently facing a challenge – the $1 per gallon tax credit expired …
Sorghum Poised for Bigger Role in Ethanol Production
Today, about 1/3 of the sorghum crop goes into ethanol production. An interesting little piece of information I picked up when I spoke with Gerald Simonsen, the Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers during Commodity Classic. Sorghum is a good feedstock for ethanol production for several reasons. First, it uses half the amount of water used in corn production and …