As farmers finally complete planting across the country, the June/July issue of Progressive Farmer magazine spotlighted Pam Dowdy’s crusade to prevent tragic grain bin accidents like the one in which she lost her beloved husband David in 2009. In the print edition, readers were treated to an extra feature that put all of the information they needed literally at their fingertips.
Following the touching article, Progressive Farmer offered a direct link via a barcode to a video on grain bin safety jointly produced by the National Corn Growers Association and the National Grain and Feed Association. Smartphone owners with a barcode scanning application can play the entire video on their device by simply scanning the code.
Grain bin accidents take only a moment to happen but leave friends and family devastated for a lifetime. Review proper safety precautions, incorporate grain bin safety precautions into your routine, and share this life-saving information with all of the farmers you love. In five short minutes, you could save a life.
The federal deficit is currently over $14 trillion, or about $46,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. Everyone is talking about trying to get the deficit under control, but the ethanol industry is actually stepping up and volunteering to do its part in a rational and responsible way.
“The ethanol industry has been proactive in our efforts to reform, unlike the oil and gas industry,” said National Corn Growers Association president Bart Schott following a vote in the Senate Tuesday to defeat an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would have immediately ended the ethanol blenders tax credit (VEETC) and associated tariff. “NCGA supports alternative reform options that will provide a safety net to the industry while reducing the overall cost to the federal government.”
Corn growers and ethanol producers are supporting a different approach to ending the tax credit that would still help the industry move forward and the two concepts could be heading for a showdown in the Senate before the end of the month.
“That indeed has been teed up with a commitment by the majority leader for a vote on Coburn again in a couple of weeks and a vote on an alternative,” said Renewable Fuels Association CEO and President Bob Dinneen.
The alternative is the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act introduced this week by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) that would generate $2.5 billion by ending the blenders’ credit or VEETC on July 1, 2011, and allocate $1 billion to deficit reduction and invest $1.5 billion in a blender pump tax credit, cellulosic biofuel tax incentives, a variable VEETC safety-net, and extension of the Small Ethanol Producer Tax Credit.
What other industry is making that kind of a commitment to deficit reduction? It may only be $1 billion, but if other industries (like oil, maybe?) were willing to take a similar hit we could at least make a dent in it.
Skaters are stoked about totally sick boards made from corn stover that are lighter and faster.
Sick is a good thing in skater lingo, by the way.
Last fall, Corn Board Manufacturing Inc. (CBMI) signed an agreement with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop and market CornBoard™ from a corn-based structural composite technology invented by the university’s Dr. Nancy Sottos, Dr. Scott White and Dr. Thomas Mackin. CornBoard™ is a version of wood composite board that uses corn husks and stalks, prepared by mixing the fibrous corn component with a polymer matrix, laminating the mixture, and applying heat and pressure.
Just a few months later, CBMI president Lane Segerstrom set a new world record for skateboard speed, averaging more than 78 mph on a towed Stalk It™ longboard, made from corn stover. Watch the video here:
The skateboards are just the first of the CornBoard products. The company is working on other applications in furniture, flooring, and building materials.
If you have children, you will probably be hearing about Pixar’s Cars 2 this summer. The sequel is highly anticipated in by the young, young-at-heart and, this time, alternative fuel-lovers as well.
The new name, a combination of all-in-one and ethanol, clearly was chosen to help viewers relate this alternative fuel to the one already in each gallon of gas that they purchase. To simplify, Pixar wants viewers to perceive the environmental benefits of a new sustainable fuel so they tie it to ethanol.
Today, movies require a significant amount of knowledge and research. With so much money on the line, getting every detail right is key. Pixar learned what corn growers and proponents of clean, sustainable domestic energy already knew; ethanol is a viable fuel source allows us to decrease both our environmental footprint and our dependence on foreign oil.
Love her or hate her, Martha Stewart holds a special place in American culture as the domestic diva who made masses of women contemplate how they cooked, decorated and entertained. From the chickens she tends for fresh eggs to the pies that she bakes from scratch, Stewart epitomizes the foodie movement that seeks to promote a food-centric culture that embraces of-the-moment ingredients and trendy movements.
Citing the American Medical Association, Stewart succinctly explained that, “high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute more to obesity than other sweeteners.” This statement flies in the case of baseless anti-corn sugar campaigns blaming the obesity epidemic on demon corn sugar instead of overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.
If Martha Stewart can eschew the propaganda, so can all reasonable Americans. Anti-HFCS rhetoric is agenda-driven hype in designer clothes. Don’t buy into the slick smear campaign. Add Martha Stewart to the growing list of foodies who know that sound science never goes out of style.
The key reason for the National Corn Growers Association sponsorship of NASCAR through American Ethanol is education and one person who learned something new at the inaugural Sprint Cup Series STP 400 on Sunday was winner
Brad Keselowski.
When I asked Brad about NASCAR using 15% ethanol fuel this year during the post-race press conference, he was actually surprised to learn that it was American-grown and produced. “It’s just an added benefit that it’s something that comes from America. I didn’t know that, I guess I should have known that,” he said. “That’s really cool.”
Brad’s boss, team owner Roger Penske did know that and said he is pleased with the NASCAR move to ethanol. “The reliability is there, the fuel mileage is there and you can see the performance, so I think it’s a win-win for everyone,” Roger said.
The American Ethanol car may not have won the race, but corn growers can still be proud that the sponsor of Brad’s #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger also uses corn in its product. Corn syrup is a basic ingredient in most MillerCoors products – and Brad was doused with it by his team in Victory Lane!
Listen to the STP 400 winning team talk about ethanol here:
“This is the kick off and we’ve been waiting for it to come,” said National Corn Growers Association president Bart Schott of North Dakota about the race on Sunday which featured the American Ethanol paint job on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet and on the track. “NASCAR has an 80 million fan base that is getting some real positive messages on burning a higher blend of ethanol.” American Ethanol is a partnership between the corn growers, the ethanol industry and NASCAR, and all series events started running this season on a 15 percent ethanol blend.
Listen to an interview with Bart and NCGA chairman Darrin Ihnen of South Dakota here:
About 1200 farmers and ethanol producers from all over the Midwest were at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday to cheer on Bowyer, following his first place win Saturday in the Camping World Truck Series. Bowyer’s team owner Richard Childress visited the American Ethanol hospitality tent to talk about his support for agriculture and the domestically produced fuel.
“I’m a farmer myself and I understand the livelihood of farmers and I think it’s great for America what they are doing to help us not to have to depend on as much foreign energy,” he said. “I hope some day we can run it all on ethanol.”
Childress believes there is a good possibility that NASCAR could go to an even higher ethanol blend than the 15% started this year. “We tested the 30 and it ran really well but I think NASCAR wants to ease into it with fuel injection coming,” he added.
Some folks concerned about the cost of corn and livestock feed are pointing their fingers, again, at ethanol. We’ve been down this road before but maybe it’s time for a refresher course from the esteemed Texas A&M University’s Agriculture and Food Policy Center, which issued a very clear report back in 2008 that holds true today as well.
“The underlying force driving changes in the agricultural industry, along with the economy as a whole, is overall higher energy costs, evidenced by $100 per barrel oil.”
“This research supports the hypothesis that corn prices have had little to do with rising food costs.”
“Relaxing the RFS does not result in significantly lower corn prices. This is due to the ethanol infrastructure already in place and the generally positive economics for the industry. The ethanol industry has grown in excess of the RFS, indicating that relaxing the standard would not cause a contraction in the industry.”
American Ethanol will be in the spotlight at two races this weekend.
First, NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace will be driving the American Ethanol #09 car, with sponsorship by corn growers and Marquis Energy, in the Nationwide Series STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday. Ethanol plant president Mark Marquis says the partnership between corn growers, the ethanol industry and NASCAR is a great opportunity to get in front of American consumers who will feel more confident about putting higher blends of ethanol in their cars after seeing how well it performs in the race cars. Mark hosted a get-together with Kenny Wallace at the Marquis Energy plant on Thursday.
Then on Sunday afternoon, Clint Bowyer will be driving a special-edition American Ethanol paint scheme on his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Clint has been talking up ethanol in interviews this week, like this story in the Kansas City Star where he is quoted as saying, “I don’t know if you’ve seen the price of fuel lately, but this whole country needs to be paying attention to this ethanol thing, because it’s a good way to create independence from foreign oil.” How true!
“It’s truly an honor to have American Ethanol on the No. 33 Chevrolet this weekend,” said Bowyer. “Born and raised in Kansas, I support American farmers as they strive to develop energy independence for our country and I look forward to representing American Ethanol both on and off the track this weekend at Kansas Speedway.”
Race fans will also see the American Ethanol logo along the backstretch wall of the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway on Sunday that will draw attention to the partnership between ethanol and NASCAR, which is using Sunoco Green E-15 racing fuel this season. We’ll have lots more from that race for you next week here on Corn Commentary.
As farmers finally complete planting across the country, the June/July issue of Progressive Farmer magazine spotlighted Pam Dowdy’s crusade to prevent tragic grain bin accidents like the one in which she lost her beloved husband David in 2009. In the print edition, readers were treated to an extra feature that put all of the information they needed literally at their fingertips.
Corn growers and ethanol producers are supporting a different approach to ending the tax credit that would still help the industry move forward and the two concepts could be heading for a showdown in the Senate before the end of the month.
Skaters are stoked about totally sick boards made from corn stover that are lighter and faster.
Just a few months later, CBMI president Lane Segerstrom set a new world record for skateboard speed, averaging more than 78 mph on a towed 
When I asked Brad about NASCAR using 15% ethanol fuel this year during the post-race press conference, he was actually surprised to learn that it was American-grown and produced. “It’s just an added benefit that it’s something that comes from America. I didn’t know that, I guess I should have known that,” he said. “That’s really cool.”
“This is the kick off and we’ve been waiting for it to come,” said National Corn Growers Association president Bart Schott of North Dakota about the race on Sunday which featured the American Ethanol paint job on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet and on the track. “NASCAR has an 80 million fan base that is getting some real positive messages on burning a higher blend of ethanol.” American Ethanol is a partnership between the corn growers, the ethanol industry and NASCAR, and all series events started running this season on a 15 percent ethanol blend.
About 1200 farmers and ethanol producers from all over the Midwest were at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday to cheer on Bowyer, following his first place win Saturday in the 
