Derrel says that since Nebraska is the state with the most irrigated land this has been a very important subject for his research and work. He says that farmers are being challenged by water limitations and to meet the bottom line while optimizing the use of ground water resources. He says that contrary to what some people may think about the aquifer going dry, it’s not. There’s plenty of water there. But states are looking at water a lot more critically and that’s putting pressure on farmers to make more efficient use of it. He says they’ve been looking at crop water use efficiency for quite a while.

When it comes to irrigation efficiency he says “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Technology today makes that pretty easy to do though. He says about 80 percent of the irrigated land is done with center pivots which can be very efficient but they need to be managed to make sure they’re working properly. He also cautions farmers to be careful about irrigating too early in spring and too late in the fall. Interestingly, Arkansas is the fourth largest irrigated state. He says irrigation is moving east.

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Derrel here:

Bill says he sees lots of contradictions in the legislation and rule making for biofuels between states like California and EPA and they need to be better defined, further defined and will lead to a lot of uncertainty in the market until they are resolved. He says there are efforts to move regulation of things like green house gas emissions back into a mechanism, like Congress, where they would be slowed down and allow more people to have input into them.

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Bill here:

Adam says that there has been increased agricultural production worldwide due to increased demand and it seems like attributing some of that to increased biofuels production makes sense. However, he says that quantifying the emissions related to agricultural production due to biofuels use is very uncertain because it’s done “as a projection into the future.” The bottom line is we don’t know what will happen in the future. He says “it’s nearly impossible.” He says that there are estimates for corn ethanol but they get smaller and smaller with more research and information. He says that they’ve started to do some research on the indirect effects of gasoline production and figure they’re roughly equivalent to that of ethanol. He also points to the impact of changes in livestock production as a result of higher grain prices and says it may have more impact than land use changes. Seems like there is a huge amount of variability in how you look at the future when it comes to biofuels production and especially corn ethanol.

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Adam here:

John caught my attention during his presentation when he said that all the negative information you’ve heard about high fructose corn syrup is completely wrong. Whoa. All of it? Yep. There is a huge amount of factual and scientific information on the subject. He calls it a mythology that has taken hold that wants to portray HFCS in a bad light. It is basically the same as regular sugar. Plain and simple. People just want to find something to blame for weight issues and the reality is that they’re consuming more of everything. You can’t lay the blame on HFCS.

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with John White here:

Find good information on HFCS on Twitter: SweetFacts

Monsanto has a goal of helping corn growers double their yield by 2030. Reiter says their biotechnology pipeline is helping make this a reality. His team is working on improving corn water use or as he puts it, “getting more crop per drop.” He says the amount of money being invested in these technologies is unprecedented.

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Dr. Reiter here:

At the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference his topic was “Genetic and Agronomic Contributions to More Efficient Corn Production.” One of the messages he wanted to impart was that due to improvements in corn genetics some of the standard use factors for nitrogen are a little high. He urges producers to look very carefully at their use of fertilizer because they can find ways to save which will benefit them financially while improving environmental impact. He thinks this efficiency will continue to improve too. So even as corn yields increase the amount of fertilizer and energy input will go down. This also helps those involved in ethanol production because it shows the EPA that “We actually produce ethanol with a lot less environmental impact.”

You can download (mp3) and listen to my interview with Fred here:

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:

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:

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:

Don’t forget to check out the CUTC Photo Album

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:

Don’t forget to check out the CUTC Photo Album