Roughly half of the cattle and hog operations in a 12-state region either fed ethanol co-products or considered feeding them to their livestock last year, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) with the support and funding of the Nebraska Corn Board.
According to Dan Kerestes, chief of the USDA NASS Livestock Branch, USDA contacted some 94-hundred dairy cattle, cattle on feed, beef cattle and hog operations in 12 states. Kerestes says USDA didn’t have too many expectations going into the report – but he says the percentage of operations already feeding co-products was a surprise.
Among dairy operations, 38 percent indicated that they fed co-products during 2006 and another 22 percent considered doing so. Among cattle on feed operations, 36 percent fed co-products and 34 percent more considered it. Among beef cattle operations, 13 percent reported that they fed co-products and 30 percent considered it. For hog operations, 12 percent fed co-products and 35 percent considered it.
Read the USDA-NASS release on the report.
Read full report.
Listen to NASS broadcast report. [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/ethanol-co-products.mp3]
Great thing about going to meetings is getting to meet people you only know by email. I got to meet a couple of fellow bloggers at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis. 
I also met Nathan Schock with 
Thanks to the 
Many of the exhibitors at the 2007 Fuel Ethanol Workshop were offering new technology and equipment to make ethanol production better, faster, easier, more efficient – you name it. 
According to their website, BetaTec is the new application arm of the Barth-Haas Group. The Barth-Haas Group was founded in 1794 and is the oldest and largest hops company in the world. As part of the Barth-Haas Group, BetaTec draws on over 200 years of hop experience and our vertically integrated operations which include every aspect of hops…growing, harvesting, processing, marketing, distribution and sales. We know hops!
The growth of the ethanol industry was most obvious at the 2007 Fuel Ethanol Workshop last week in St. Louis on the expo floor. Some 700 exhibitors were there, an increase of 60 percent from last year alone. 
There’s a new player on the block in the alternative energy group sector: The American Biofuels Council.
Just less than a year ago, the prospects for a biodiesel plant in Minot, North Dakota seemed pretty promising as the state’s governor, a U.S. Senator, and North Dakota’s ag commissioner attended the groundbreaking at the Dakota Skies Biodiesel plant.
A congressional committee has added an amendment to the Energy Bill that would require U.S. Government gas pumps to offer E85 ethanol.
“I was pleased the Committee accepted my amendment to expand the availability of E85 and renewable fuel pumps at federal government refueling stations,” Stupak said. “The federal government is the largest energy consumer in our nation and needs to lead by example. By mandating the expansion of renewable fuel pumps at federal refueling stations, we can ensure federal agencies increase their renewable fuel use and help America move away from its dependence on foreign oil.”
Phillip Lampert, the Executive Director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, praised Congressman Stupak for offering the amendment. “We thank Congressman Stupak for his efforts, insight and acknowledgment of the need to move the federal government’s fleet of vehicles onto E85 and other renewable fuels,” Lampert said. “Bart Stupak has long been a leader on energy issues, and we thank him for offering this bi-partisan amendment.” 