A new report shows that the main feedstocks for biodiesel and ethanol, soybeans and corn, are going to have bigger harvests than previously expected. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri says while the big crops will push prices for those feedstocks down – even further down than what was projected just a couple of …
Ethanol Report: Ethanol Production, RFS & EPA
In this edition of the Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen discusses ethanol production for the year so far, new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) ad campaigns and gives his thoughts on the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2014 Renewable Volume Obligations that are under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review. In addition, he touches on record …
Big Corn Crop Getting Bigger
USDA has increased its estimate of the corn crop again this month, building on already forecast record highs. Corn production is forecast at 14.4 billion bushels, up 3 percent from both the August forecast and from 2013 and yields are expected to average 171.7 bushels per acre, almost 13 bushels an acre higher than last year. “It will be the …
Dueling RFS Ads Have Same Tune
President Obama needs to overrule this misguided proposal from the EPA before it is too late and these new technologies move overseas. The fate of America’s advanced biofuel industry, along with the President’s clean energy legacy, are resting on his decision. Fuels America USA Today print ad “Tell President Obama, stop playing politics – fix the RFS.” American Petroleum Institute …
Ethanol Report on Corn and Food Prices
In this edition of the Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper talks about how corn prices have fallen but food prices continue to rise, and how that shows the “food versus fuel” argument is false. A new report from RFA compares corn prices to the price of dairy products, pork products, beef products, and poultry …
Introducing Cellulosic Technology Cellerate
During the cellulosic ethanol celebration event at Quad County Corn Processors ethanol plant in Galva, Iowa yesterday, Syngenta unveiled the new brand for the cellulosic ethanol technology: Cellerate™. Enhanced by Enogen® corn enzyme technology, Cellerate is a collaboration between Syngenta and Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies, LLC. Cellerate is unique in that it is designed to increase an ethanol plant’s production by …
RFA Releases Report to Debunk ‘Food v Fuel’
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has released a new report today in an effort to “debunk” what they call the “fictional” food versus fuel debate. The report finds that while corn prices have dropped dramatically over the past two years, retail food prices of key foods including eggs, beef, poultry and pork have remained steady or continue to increase. The …
AMRC Looks at Ethanol Plant Profitability Projections
Don Hofstrand, retired agriculture extension economist with the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AMRC) located at Iowa State University, has recently published projections for ethanol plant profitability over the next several years. When the ethanol boom really took off, Hofstrand noted that most farmers purchased shares in ethanol plants as a way to hedge against low corn prices. So AMRC began …
Valero Restarts Mount Vernon, IN Ethanol Plant
Valero Renewable Fuels Company has restarted its recently purchased ethanol plant located in Mount Vernon, Indiana. On hand for the Port Appreciation and Welcome Ceremony was Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and other state and local officials. The Mount Vernon plant is the 11th corn ethanol plant in Valero Renewables’ system and its second in Indiana. It has an annual production …
Summit Group Building Brazilian Corn Ethanol Plant
Alden, Iowa-based Summit Group announced a project to build the first modern corn ethanol plant in Brazil during the 2014 Farm Progress Show. The project will consist of a US$140 million ethanol plant near Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso, a leading agricultural state in west central Brazil and the country’s largest producer of corn and soybeans. The project …