This was too good a photo to pass up coming out of the Farm Progress Show. This convenience store is on Hwy. 48 just north of Decatur, IL and less than a mile from what many people call the “Super Bowl of Farm Shows.”
Somehow the title says it all. We can have food and fuel if we want to. If you could see the area around this store you’d see corn and soybean fields. It truly is an oasis of food and fuel!
The large annual farm show featured the products and technology from many companies who are working to make agricultural production more efficient not only to produce food but also fuel which will not only lessen our dependence on foreign oil but also improve our environment.
Producing more from every acre while reducing the environmental footprint on the farm are the hallmarks of U.S. farming today, says Leon Corzine, past NCGA president and one of five recipients to receive the new Abraham Lincoln National Agriculture Award. Leon received the inaugural award at the Farm Progress Show, in Decatur, Ill. for his efforts on behalf of technology.
For those of you know Leon, you know that he’s a champion for the contributions of the American farmer. He was recognized for his national involvement to promote and adopt biotechnology in agriculture, advocacy for a governmental standard for the use of renewable fuels which led to aggressive market demand for ethanol, plus additional technological developments in grain storage, in export shipping containers, as well has his leadership for new locks and dams on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. All in days work, huh, Leon?
Brownfield Network’s Tom Steever, caught up with Leon at the Farm Progress Show (mp3). “We really have changed things in rural America and across the country. We have done things to make our country better, I truly feel…Every time, the American farmer has stepped up to the plate.”
Other award recipients are John Block, an Illinois farmer and former U.S. ag secretary; Jim Evans, a University of Illinois agricultural communications professor emeritus; Congressman J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and John Huston, executive vice president emeritus of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
Hats off to you, Leon, and the other award winners; America is better off because of your efforts.
You can also listen to an interview I conducted with Leon at the Show after receiving his award:
Peppered with choice four-letter words, the article is a re-hash of every criticism about ethanol there is, with no balance and no responsible alternative to suggest.
Where to start? Okay, let’s start with subsidies. According to the Stone, Corn is already the most subsidized crop in America, raking in a total of $51 billion in federal handouts between 1995 and 2005 — twice as much as wheat subsidies and four times as much as soybeans.
One might ask the author if he has any clue how the federal farm programs actually work. One might also ask if he knows that in 2006, those subsides (which are mostly deficiency payments paid by the government when corn prices fall short of break-even) fell substantially. Why? Because the prices rose to the point where farmers were actually making money on the crop without government assistance.
So much of the article is blah, blah, blah - we have heard all this before and there is no way to argue with these people because they believe what they want to believe. They won’t accept that ethanol production continues to become more efficient, for example. They are convinced we will never be able to produce cellulosic ethanol to help meet the Congressional mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2012 when corn ethanol can only hope to come up with 15 billion gallons.
Stone says The remaining 21 billion gallons will have to come from advanced biofuels, most of which are currently brewed only in small-scale lab experiments. “It’s like trying to solve a traffic problem by mandating hovercraft,” says Dave Juday, an independent commodities consultant. “Except we don’t have hovercraft.”
And the Stone, like most ethanol critics, pooh-poohs the idea that we could “only” replace seven percent of our current energy needs with ethanol. What’s wrong with that? What is wrong with producing at least SOME of our energy here in the United States, keeping the money at home instead of sending it to countries that hate us?
The Stone completely discounts the idea that cellulosic ethanol, “even if the engineering hurdles can be overcome,” will ever become a reality for reasons like logistics and land use - and because it would mean “wrestling the future away from Big Corn.”
“It’s pretty clear to me that the corn guys will use all their lobbying muscle and political power to stall, thwart and sidetrack this revolution,” says economist C. Ford Runge.
Really? Runge obviously has not talked with anyone in the corn ethanol industry, all of whom are promoting the future of cellulosic ethanol. Growers are investing in plants with the firm idea that other feedstocks will be used in the future - and they can grow them too!
It’s unfortunate that we even have to respond to these kinds of attacks that are going on relentlessly. But, make no mistake, the reason ethanol is being attacked so viciously is BECAUSE it is good and it is right. Stand firm, make sure the facts get out there and people don’t blindly believe this kind of dross.
Incidentally, Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen did take the time and effort to respond to the Stone article with a letter to the editor, which was subsequently lambasted by the article’s author. In the middle of it all is a blogger by the name of Robert Rapier - a UK oil-industry engineer and contributor to “The Oil Drum” blog - whom Rolling Stone author Jeff Goodell used as a source for many of his claims about ethanol. Dinneen challenged the “energy blogger’s” figures and in turn has been challenged to a debate by Mr. Rapier. To my knowledge, Mr. Dinneen has yet to take up the offer, but I think he should - somebody should. We can’t sit back and be weenies and keep taking this lying down.
LifeLine Foods is opening a new generation ethanol plant in St. Joseph, Missouri that could eventually put to rest the whole “food versus fuel” issue.
The facility features a mill in the front of the plant that separates the corn kernel into fiber, protein and starches. This technique enables increased utilization of the starch within the kernel. The resulting higher quality starches will be used for food products while the lower quality starches will be used to produce ethanol.
In addition, the plant utilizes the fiber in the corn kernel to produce energy. This process reduces the plant’s dependence on natural gas and allows the plant to generate its own fuel.
Ken McCauley of White Cloud, Kansas is one of the plant’s 600 farmer-owners. He is also president of the National Corn Growers Association and he says this plant is a new innovation in the ethanol industry. “When you talk about food and fuel, this is the epitome of it,” said McCauley. “It’s the perfect answer to somebody who says you’re just taking food and making fuel. No, we’re not. We’re making the most out of every kernel of corn.”
McCauley explains how it works. “This is the perfect fractionation process because you’re breaking it down at the front end. So, you’re actually getting the germ out, which is the corn oil. You’re also taking the endosperm out and you’re getting what we call snack grits, that make the snack products. What’s left is starch, already broken down and ready to make ethanol.” Finally you have a high protein product leftover.
The slogan for LifeLine’s plant is “Fueling America, Feeding the World” and McCauley says it’s important for agriculture to step up and start defending itself against the critics of ethanol. “There’s nobody going hungry in the world because of ethanol,” he says.
Bill Becker, CEO of LifeLine, says using the fiber to create energy for the plant is also a major part of the equation. “One of the misnomers about the ethanol industry is that it takes more energy to produce it,” he says. “That might have been true 35 years ago but there’s been great strides in efficiency. And I believe we will continue to see improved efficiencies to the point that the fiber will supply 100 percent of our energy needs (in the plant). And I think that’s within 2-3 years.”
LifeLine produces ingredients for dry cereal, snacks and tortillas. Some of the flour they produce has been distributed around the world in the Food for Peace program through USDA.
Consumers have a growing amount of online information that provides them with good science based information to make better choices, especially when it comes to new energy choices. We’re going to point to them whenever and wherever we find them.
Take for example a YouTube video from Monsanto that helps provide some positive perspective for food and fuel. It’s titled, “Renewable Fuels: From Farm To Fuel Pump.” This 6 minute video reviews how “Ethanol and Biodiesel can offer benefits to consumers and farmers.” The video features comments from NCGA’s CEO Rick Tolman who talks about increasing yields and the productivity of America’s corn growers.
Here’s how IL Corn starts it out:
The price of a bushel of corn and its effect on the price of just about everything else has created more nonsense on both sides of the argument than anything since Walt Disney was a pup. Is it a food vs. fuel proposition? Does converting corn to ethanol so we can feed the gas tanks of America steal food from starving Africans? Maybe shipping cheap corn to Chad actually prevents that nation from developing an Ag base that can grow its own food. (So begins a story and interview on “The Cattle Network” website today.
In it, the authors make the startling claim that the increase in world agriculture prices caused by the global boom in biofuels could benefit many of the world’s rural poor.
“Decades of declining agricultural prices have been reversed thanks to the growing use of biofuels,” says Christopher Flavin, president of the Institute. “Farmers in some of the poorest nations have been decimated by U.S. and European subsidies to crops such as corn, cotton, and sugar. Today’s higher prices may allow them to sell their crops at a decent price, but major agriculture reforms and infrastructure development will be needed to ensure that the increased benefits go to the world’s 800 million undernourished people, most of whom live in rural areas.”
The book also concludes:
Growth in biofuels production may have unexpected economic benefits, according to the experts who contributed to the report. Of the 47 poorest countries, 38 are net importers of oil and 25 import all of their oil; for these nations, the tripling in oil prices has been an economic disaster. But nations that develop domestic biofuels industries will be able to purchase fuel from their own farmers rather than spending scarce foreign exchange on imported oil.
The book does say that current biofuels production methods do place a burden on land and water resources but says “the long-term potential of biofuels is in the use of non-food feedstock, including agricultural and forestry wastes, as well as fast-growing, cellulose-rich energy crops such as perennial grasses and trees.”
“Biofuels alone will not solve the world’s transportation-related energy problems,” the authors conclude. “Development of these fuels must occur within the context of a transition to a more efficient, less polluting and more diversified global transport sector. They must be part of a portfolio of options that includes dramatc improvements in vehicle fuel economy, investment in public transportation, and better urban planning.”
This photo from the image library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows crops or products that have either already been genetically engineered or are involved in ongoing or planned transgenic studies.
Biotechnology and genetic engineering are often a source of controversy because of fears that modifying crops genetically could impact human health or biodiversity or something. But a recent study indicates that genetically modified crops might actually help contribute to increased productivity in sustainable agriculture.
The study published in the June 8 issue of the journal Science, analyzes for the first time environmental impact data from field experiments all over the world, involving corn and cotton plants with a Bt gene inserted for its insecticidal properties.
In an analysis of 42 field experiments, scientists found that this particular modification, which causes the plant to produce an insecticide internally, can have an environmental benefit because large-scale insecticide spraying can be avoided. Organisms such as ladybird beetles, earthworms, and bees in locales with “Bt crops” fared better in field trials than those within locales treated with chemical insecticides.
What is kind of ironic about the whole genetic engineering/biotech controversy is that the same people who have problems with genetically modified crops often have no problem with the concept of manufacturing embryos to use their stem cells for research to find “cures” for diseases or conditions - which is essentially genetic engineering on a human level. California is a good example of that kind of thinking, where they want to ban farmers from planting GM strawberries, while at the same time provide taxpayer dollars for embryonic stem cell research.
When we think of the term “corn fed” we often think of some fine U. S. beef. Well now you can think music, as in, Shannon Brown’s new album and title track. Shannon is an Iowa native and Nashville artist who performed last week at the opening of the VeraSun Charles City, IA ethanol plant.
Here in this picture she’s performing for the video of the song, “Corn Fed.” You can watch that video on her website. The video takes place in a corn field and John Deere is going to be happy to see their green equipment featured as well.
Shannon has put lyrics and music to a theme you’ll hear time and time again from farmers—their love of life in rural America, their love of country and a pride in being part of agriculture.
After hearing national media coverage citing ethanol as the reason for higher grocery costs, Colorado Corn Growers, Colorado Farm Bureau and Ag Commissioner John Stulp decided to take a stand. Several Denver media outlets featured the story. You can see their coverage using the following links!
“Farmers Defend Themselves Amid Growing Prices” - This is a KCNC News 4 story by Mike Hooker. In the story he writes, “Colorado agricultural leaders say the special interest groups, who want to put the ethanol business out to pasture, are misleading the public.
“They want the American public to think that they’re going to have to decide between food or fuel,” Troy Brendenkamp with the Colorado Agricultural Council said.
Fighting back, Colorado ag leaders called a news conference Thursday. They praised U.S. farmers and said corn growers aren’t getting a windfall from ethanol when production cost increases like labor and, particularly, the spike in fuel costs are considered.” “Colorado corn growers address grocery prices” - This is a 9News.com story by TaRhonda Thomas. In the story she writes, “”The national media would have you believe the increased demand for corn… is responsible for increases in everything from apples to zucchini,” said Mark Sponsler, executive director of the Colorado Corn Growers Association. “The real impact of the corn for fuel industry is much less significant than some would have you believe.”
“They ignore the impact of petroleum and higher energy costs on production, manufacturing, transportation, packaging, utilities and the fact that wages account for more than sixty percent of every dollar spent at the grocery store,” said Sponsler.”
This was too good a photo to pass up coming out of the Farm Progress Show. This convenience store is on Hwy. 48 just north of Decatur, IL and less than a mile from what many people call the “Super Bowl of Farm Shows.”
Producing more from every acre while reducing the environmental footprint on the farm are the hallmarks of U.S. farming today, says Leon Corzine, past NCGA president and one of five recipients to receive the new Abraham Lincoln National Agriculture Award. Leon received the inaugural award at the Farm Progress Show, in Decatur, Ill. for his efforts on behalf of technology. 
Brownfield Network’s Tom Steever, caught up with 
So much of the article is blah, blah, blah - we have heard all this before and there is no way to argue with these people because they believe what they want to believe. They won’t accept that ethanol production continues to become more efficient, for example. They are convinced we will never be able to produce cellulosic ethanol to help meet the Congressional mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2012 when corn ethanol can only hope to come up with 15 billion gallons.
Ken McCauley of White Cloud, Kansas is one of the plant’s 600 farmer-owners. He is also president of the 
This photo from the image library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows crops or products that have either already been genetically engineered or are involved in ongoing or planned transgenic studies.
When we think of the term “corn fed” we often think of some fine U. S. beef. Well now you can think music, as in, Shannon Brown’s new album and title track. Shannon is an Iowa native and Nashville artist who performed last week at the opening of the