USDA’s new planted acreage report out this morning says corn acres are two percent higher than last year, but that is down a point from the March report with more acres are going to soybeans.
Corn planted area for all purposes in 2010 is estimated at 87.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Acreage is up in Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio; but down significantly in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Soybean planted area for 2010 is estimated at a record high 78.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year.
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) held a conference call on the report this morning, featuring commentary by Joe Victor of Allendale, Inc., who expressed surprise at the decrease from the March report in corn acres. “This is the first time that we’ve seen fewer corn acres in the June planted acreage report versus the March, but it’s also the second largest number of corn acres planted,” Victor said.
Victor says the stocks report, with corn up 1 percent at 4.31 billion bushels and usage at 3.38 billion, was also a surprise. “That’s the first time that we can ever put a 3 in front of total usage, that is a record amount of usage, March through May,” said Victor. The previous record was 2007-2008 at 2.83 billion bushels. Victor notes that ethanol usage remains strong and so are exports with recent sales to China.
You may be interested to know how grain quality affects ethanol production and DDGs. If so, then you would interested in Leland McKinney’s presentation at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. I spoke with him to learn about his research on this topic. Leland is Extension State Leader in the Dept. of Grain Science at Kansas State University.
To start with he says that getting information presented a challenge since there’s not a lot of it publicly available. So, without much data to work with he visited personally with industry representatives to find out their thoughts and put together an overview presentation on the subject. He says moisture and how it impacts grinding efficiency and water balance in an ethanol plant were mentioned as well as quality attributes like fermentable starch and test weight. When it comes to the DDGs he says mycotoxins came up frequently as a concern. The bottom line though is that there needs to be research on how grain quality effects the production of ethanol. Hopefully that will be done before another CUTC!
You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Leland here:
I get the whole health and nutrition thing. I applaud CSPI for helping to clarify food labeling so we can make more informed food purchases. However, when organizations begin imposing their value system on the rest of us in the name of the public good, I get a little cranky.
Where will this “do-gooding” stop? We’ve already experienced the attack of the HFCS (corn sweetener) bogey man. The Michael Pollans of the world continue to demonize corn in biblical proportions, and HSUS would like nothing better than to remove meat from the human palate. How are these efforts going to improve the health and nutrition of a hungry and growing world population?
Many of these strange attacks are spurred on by business or personal agendas. They are veiled in a way that consumers don’t see the motivation and begin to wonder if anything is safe anymore. Or they just plain tune out. Personally, I don’t consider someone else’s morals or their profit motives to be great condiments or a particularly savory addition to my diet.
Successful enterprises consistently deliver on their promise to provide consumers with what they expect. For the most part, I feel I make informed purchases. My repeat purchases are a direct result of delivering on my expectation. Disappointment is my number one reason to abandon a product or service. When my expectation changes and a company doesn’t adapt, I get disappointed and go elsewhere for my needs.
I know the end of the Happy Meal will not change the course of history, just some family history. McDonalds delivers a product and service that allows me to have memorable teaching moments with my kids. In our household, Happy Meals are a treat, not a food group. We talk about the difference between nutritious foods and treats. These dining experiences create opportunities for me to peer into my children’s imaginations through play, and develop an appreciation of the world from their point of view. For us, this is quality family time.
The first report from USDA on corn silking progress came out today, at seven percent nationwide we are running a couple of points ahead of normal for this time of year. Some not so big corn growing states like Tennessee and North Carolina are way ahead of normal – but even Illinois is over twice the average at 15 percent. This photo was taken at a field next to the Missouri River not far from the State Capitol in Jefferson City where the corn has been soaking up the heat and humidity and growing like crazy lately.
Agronomists and farmers know that this is the most critical stage in the development of a corn plant, the reproductive stage, where the silk serves to catch falling pollen grains to fertilize the eggs in the ear that become kernels of corn. But, did you know that corn silk also has health benefits when made into an herbal tea and can cure a variety of maladies, from bed-wetting to obesity? I am not making this up.
According to phytochemicals.info, cornsilk has detoxifying, relaxing and diuretic activity and is used to treat infections of the urinary and genital system, such as cystitis, prostatitis and urethritis. “Cornsilk helps to reduce frequent urination caused by irritation of the bladder and is used to treat bed wetting problems. In China, cornsilk is traditionally used to treat edema and jaundice. Studies indicate that cornsilk can reduces blood clotting time and reduce high blood pressure.”
When it comes to creating new uses for corn, Chad Ulven, North Dakota State University, is one of the researchers leading the way. During the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference he did a presentation titled, “Development of DDGs as Reinforcement in Polymers.” So what does that mean? To find out I interviewed him.
He’s looking at a variety of different agricultural by-products like DDGs to make them into plastics. He calls them bio-composites. Although there would be many types of products these could be used for he’s most interested in using them for farm implements like tractor shrouds or sprayer booms. He says the fibers he creates can add additional stiffness for example. He’s got a foundation of research completed after 5 years but now he’s trying to bring some of his creations to market. To do that he’s talking with several companies.
You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Chad here:
As Congress prepares for an Independence Day Recess to be followed by vigorous discussion of a new energy bill, the National Corn Growers Association has stepped up its campaign to ensure that corn-based ethanol is part of the formula that brings our country to energy security and independence. More here.
The ethanol by-product known as dried distillers grains, or DDGs, is being fed more often these days to all types of livestock. At first, it was mainly beef and dairy cattle producers that utilized the product, which is rich in protein, fiber and oil. Now more hog producers are using the product, which serves to recapture about one third of the corn that goes into making ethanol for the livestock feed market. Each bushel of grain used in the ethanol-making process produces about 18 pounds of DDGS.
Companies like Novus International are helping to increase the use of DDGs in pork production by researching how much DDGs can be included in hog rations at different ages for proper nutrition. “We’ve increased the inclusion rates of distillers from just a few years ago, somewhere around ten percent, now to 30-40 percent in some diets,” says Brad Lawrence, Technical Manager for the Novus pork business in North America.
During the recent World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Lawrence said that has fundamentally changed the nutritional content of the pig’s diet, so Novus did some modeling and research and found that including oxidative balance additives in the feed helped get optimum performance from the animals. “Ethanol is here to stay,” Lawrence said. “There’s some concerns about corn availability, but as we put corn into an ethanol plant, we’re getting distillers back out. As swine nutritionists, that means we have to learn what the optimum nutritional technologies are that we can implement to get the most value out of the distillers.”
Listen to an interview with Brad Lawrence from World Pork Expo here:
At the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference Illinois Corn Marketing Board member Larry Hasheider (right) was a guest on AgriTalk. Larry is also the Chairman of the NCGA Research Committee. I spoke to him afterward.
He emphasizes the importance of research on corn and uses for corn. With growing yields the need for new uses like fuel become increasingly important to keep profitability in the market for corn growers. Once again ethanol is in the spotlight since it is one of the most well developed new use areas we have right now. Larry says that getting it classified as an advanced biofuel is one of the things they’re working on.
He also wants people to realize that when you make corn into ethanol you not only get a fuel product but a by-product called DDGS. He points out that for every 56 pounds of corn used you get 18 pounds of high quality feed product for animals. New technology will increase the protein levels in this byproduct making it even more valuable.
You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Larry here:
Ethanol critics often cite “subsidies” that support ethanol sales and distribution as a reason people should oppose the home-grown biofuel. However, what they often neglect to tell you is the dollars – which are actually a tax break and not some kind of direct payment – go to the gas blenders or other oil interests.
Ethanol companies and farmers have supported these tax incentives that go to whoever blends the ethanol in with gasoline be it local or regional business or larger big oil wholesalers. The truth is, for an industry that has had your fuel dollars in a choke hold for decades, oil interests have had little reason in the early years for them to blend.
Better for the environment, domestic jobs, energy security are noble reasons to support biofuels but ultimately, profit is the central focal point for big oil. Profitability is likely a key directive for any business that wants to survive.
However, with increasingly competitive ethanol prices, the oil and gas guys often pad their profits nicely over and above the blender tax credit. Why not eliminate it? Most rational people in the industry think is should be phased out and the amount has been reduced already. The trick will be reducing it again and eventually eliminating subsidies it in a way that makes sense for consumers and will assure we sustain this critical domestic fuel source long term.
And any cuts to tax incentives for renewable should be directed at big oil too, especially considering the years they have been at the public tax trough. The largest U.S subsidies to fossil fuels are attributed to tax breaks that aid foreign oil production, according to research released by Environmental Law Institute.
The study, which reviewed fossil fuel and energy subsidies for Fiscal Years 2002-2008, reveals that the lion’s share of energy subsidies supported energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels benefited from approximately $72 billion over the seven-year period, while subsidies for renewable fuels totaled only $29 billion.
In the interim, one interesting side effect from the BP oil disaster is the growing public awareness of how profitable Fortune 100 companies like BP are and have been for decades. For BP, a $20 billion outlay for oil spill damages is a drop in a very large bucket. (more…)
Ethanol was a frequent topic of presentation at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. Phibro’s Dr. Dennis Bayrock spoke on, “Microbial Contamination and Quality/Type of Feedstock–Impact on Production of Ethanol.” He is the global R&D director for the company.
He was on the program to raise awareness for the fact that corn fermentation is a live process and there is potential for contamination that would rob an ethanol plant of the full yield potential of their product. He says that the effect of specific mycotoxins still remains a mystery to a lot of the industry. In fact, the exact effect on a plant is an unanswered question. He says research is being done on mycotoxins but not on their effects on the the ethanol production process. So, the take away is that mycotoxins do present a threat to yeast fermentations and predicting when that will happen is a challenge. I asked him if there is something an ethanol plant can do to minimize this problem and he says there are tests that can be done such as screening but probably not on every load or batch of corn.
You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Dennis here:
USDA’s new planted acreage report out this morning says corn acres are two percent higher than last year, but that is down a point from the March report with more acres are going to soybeans.
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) held a conference call on the report this morning, featuring commentary by Joe Victor of Allendale, Inc., who expressed surprise at the decrease from the March report in corn acres. “This is the first time that we’ve seen fewer corn acres in the June planted acreage report versus the March, but it’s also the second largest number of corn acres planted,” Victor said. 
Victor says the stocks report, with corn up 1 percent at 4.31 billion bushels and usage at 3.38 billion, was also a surprise. “That’s the first time that we can ever put a 3 in front of total usage, that is a record amount of usage, March through May,” said Victor. The previous record was 2007-2008 at 2.83 billion bushels. Victor notes that ethanol usage remains strong and so are exports with recent sales to China.
You may be interested to know how grain quality affects ethanol production and DDGs. If so, then you would interested in Leland McKinney’s presentation at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. I spoke with him to learn about his research on this topic. Leland is Extension State Leader in the Dept. of Grain Science at Kansas State University.
The 
When it comes to creating new uses for corn, Chad Ulven, North Dakota State University, is one of the researchers leading the way. During the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference he did a presentation titled, “Development of DDGs as Reinforcement in Polymers.” So what does that mean? To find out I interviewed him.
The ethanol by-product known as dried distillers grains, or DDGs, is being fed more often these days to all types of livestock. At first, it was mainly beef and dairy cattle producers that utilized the product, which is rich in protein, fiber and oil. Now more hog producers are using the product, which serves to recapture about one third of the corn that goes into making ethanol for the livestock feed market. Each bushel of grain used in the ethanol-making process produces about 18 pounds of DDGS. 
Companies like 
At the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference Illinois Corn Marketing Board member Larry Hasheider (right) was a guest on 
Ethanol was a frequent topic of presentation at the 