Former USDA Under Secretary and previous Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey was part of the inaugural Tech Hub LIVE conference in Des Moines last week. Much of the focus at the event was incentivizing sustainability for farmers, and an increasing demand for ethanol as a low carbon fuel could provide some incentive. “I believe we will gravitate towards more …
New Campaigns Promote Ethanol in DC
Two new campaigns are taking aim at lawmakers in Washington D.C. with information about the environmental benefits of corn ethanol to reduce carbon emissions. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) launched a digital campaign including non-skippable video units on streaming services, video on local websites within Washington D.C. and social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram. In addition, NCGA was …
Corn Growers Oppose Anti-Ethanol Bill
A bill aimed at corn ethanol that was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week is being challenged by the National Corn Growers Association. The bill, referred to as the “Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act,” was introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Susan Collins (R-MN). It’s aim is to remove the implied conventional …
SCOTUS Disappoints Biofuels Coalition with Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court today overturned a 2020 appellate court ruling that struck down three improper small refinery exemptions granted by previous EPA administrators, disappointing the coalition of renewable fuel and farm groups that brought the case. However, the industry remains hopeful that other elements of the original ruling that were unchallenged will discourage future abuses of the exemption program. …
Farm Futures Summit Highlights Ethanol
The Farm Futures Business Summit being held this week in Iowa featured corn farmers and ethanol industry leaders on the first day of the program to shed light on the future of ethanol. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) sponsored the panel with Iowa corn farmer and NCGA Ethanol Action Team (ETHAT) member Kelly Nieuwenhuis, Renewable Fuels Association President and …
Seed Companies Apply to do Cleanup at Ethanol Plant
A coalition of six seed companies has applied to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) to address environmental contamination at the AltEn facility located near Mead, Nebraska. The AltEn ethanol facility has been shut down since February after a digester spill and has been under investigation for environmental contamination caused by misuse of treated …
Golden Grain Energy Holds Big Bin Bash
Golden Grain Energy (GGE) in Mason City, Iowa is now home to the world’s largest grain bin, built by Sukup Manufacturing Co. The bin measures 165 feet in diameter with a peak height of 155 feet, 7 inches and boasts a capacity of 2.2 million bushels. GGE held a Big Bin Bash this week to celebrate completion of the bin …
Flawed Land Use Change Study Results Corrected
A review by researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have found that two recent studies examining purported cropland expansion in the Midwest are based on a flawed methodology that “suffers from accuracy and certainty issues.” The SIUE authors found that the inherent defects in the methodology of studies by Zhang et al. and Lark et al., “severely hinder its …
Corn Use for Ethanol Forecast Increased
USDA’s May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report is forecasting corn use for ethanol to increase this year with greater production and domestic use. The corn crop is projected at 15 billion bushels, up from last year on higher area and a yield projection of 179.5 bushels per acre assuming normal planting progress and summer growing season weather. Total …
E15 in Court
The D.C. Circuit Court heard oral arguments this week in a case brought by oil refiners challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2019 rulemaking allowing the year-round sale of E15. The Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association argued as intervenors in support of the rule that oil refiners are seeking to block American drivers from year-round …