Missouri corn grower Rob Korff recently had the opportunity to tell United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon about the important strides American farmers have made to produce more abundant, affordable food.
Korff, who is vice chairman of the Missouri Corn Growers and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association Biotechnology Working Group, took part in a United Nations food security meeting and discussion on June 12 in St. Louis.
“Beginning with a description of my family’s farming operation, I explained how technology has made corn production more efficient and stabilized yields,” said Korff. “Technology has reduced the amount of herbicides and pesticides needed, requiring less energy per bushel produced, thus reducing our carbon footprint.”
Korff shared facts and figures about how advances in precision farming and biotechnology have helped U.S. farmers produce more food on less acreage and stressed that it can help other countries do the same. “I believe biotech has been fully tested and is safe for consumption. It is allowing farmers to produce a more secure, abundant and affordable food supply,” he said. “As education and awareness spread, technology, and more specifically, biotechnology will be the answer to feeding our rapidly expanding world population.”
Pioneer and the Iowa Corn Growers are teaming up again this year to educate consumers about ethanol by sponsoring the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The race will be held June 21 at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa and broadcast live on the ABC television network starting at noon central time.
According to Craig Floss, CEO of the Iowa Corn Growers, the race is an excellent opportunity to inform the general public about the benefits of corn and ethanol. “Our reach has moved well beyond the state of Iowa to a national and even a global audience,” said Floss. “We are able to have the sponsorship opportunities on television this year which is a great way for us to talk about corn, all the places corn goes, and all the products that include corn.”
Pioneer Director of End Use Markets Russ Saunders says sponsorship of the Iowa Corn 250 is a great opportunity to show that support for ethanol and corn growers. “When we look at how fuel prices seem to be headed back up and we have economic challenges all around us, it’s more important than ever that we tell the story of ethanol,” said Saunders.
What makes the Iowa Corn 250 more important this year, ethanol-wise, is that it is the only Indy race that is using corn ethanol produced in the USA. All the rest of the races are using Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, since they took over sponsorship of the races after the US ethanol industry dropped its option last fall. Sad to see such a fantastically successful promotion for a home-grown fuel handed over to another country, but it is pretty pricey and it was hard for the ethanol industry to pony up the cash during our tough economic times.
Reinforce the importance of a strong corn and ethanol industry in Missouri. Grab a seed tag – or five – and use them to write the governor. This is one way to illustrate the economic impact of corn growers and make a strong statement of support for the incentive fund. We need you to do your part in flooding the governor’s office with seed tags. Please fill one out for each member of your operation and family with a stake in ethanol production and strong corn prices.
Missouri’s $381 million economic stimulus bill contains $23 million for the ethanol incentive fund, enough money to completely fulfill the state’s commitment to all Missouri ethanol plants. If signed by the governor, the measure will deliver a significant capital injection in
this struggling economy, solidifying a strong foundation for Missouri’s farmer-owned ethanol plants.
Corn growers are leading the charge in a new campaign stressing how corn-based ethanol gets biofuels right. This campaign now includes a full-page ad running in Politico, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
The ad stresses important facts about corn and ethanol, such as the increase in yields over the last 20 years, the decrease in the amount of energy used to produce corn and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, and that using ethanol helps cut GHG by up to 59 percent.
Iowa corn growers are investing in a corn oil and animal feed processor plant to add value to corn ethanol.
The investment in Merrill, IA-based Plymouth Oil Company is being made through Iowa Corn Opportunities, an equity fund established by the Iowa Corn Growers Association for investment and business development. “Plymouth Oil Company represents an important step forward for the corn ethanol industry which is currently suffering from depressed margins. Adding value to corn made ethanol is critical right now,” says Pam Johnson, President of ICO and corn grower from Floyd, Iowa. “Plymouth Oil Company is creating high value human food, high value animal feed while demonstrating that both food and fuel can be economically produced from the same kernel of corn.”
Under the agreement, Plymouth will purchase corn germ for further value-added processing in the Merrill facility. The raw germ will be converted into crude corn oil for human consumption and the resulting de-oiled germ will be incorporated into high value livestock feed. The production plant uses proven hexane extraction technology that efficiently extracts corn oil with targets to produce approximately 60 tons per day of crude corn oil and about 240 tons per day of corn germ meal.
“We are able to increase the protein content of the distillers’ grains, making them more useable as a feed source in the poultry, swine and dairy markets,” says Dave Hoffman, President of POC. Hoffman also says that “corn oil is a high value vegetable oil product that is increasing in demand as food processors switch from hydrogenated soybean oil in an effort to reduce trans-fats.”
Iowa Corn Opportunities made the decision to invest in Plymouth Oil Company because it “ultimately represents an important value added opportunity for the ethanol industry, livestock producers, consumers and corn growers alike.” With the investment, Iowa corn growers will also retain a seat on the Board of Managers for Plymouth.
Dairy farmers and livestock producers from southern Missouri gathered at the McCallister Farm last week to explore nutritional considerations, storage techniques and the economic advantages for feeding livestock the ethanol co-product dried distillers grains (DDGs). Sponsored by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council (MCMC) and University of Missouri Extension, the field day drew a crowd of 75 producers and guests from across the state.
“As a feed source, distillers grains offer economic and nutritional benefits to Missouri’s livestock producers,” said Gary Wheeler, Missouri Corn director of business development. “This field day allowed dairy producers to see those benefits firsthand. We hope they will take advantage of this value-added feed and apply what they learned at this event in their own operations.”
During the field day, producers learned the proper storage and handling techniques for dried distillers grains from the McCallisters, who utilize the ethanol co-product in their operation. Jeff Drost (pictured), animal nutrition sales manager with LifeLine Foods of St. Joseph, Mo., explained the latest technology and uses of corn and its co-products and LifeLine also provided the distillers grains for the field day.
Motorists in Grand Island, Nebraska now have a range of choices at the pump when it comes to ethanol blended gasoline, thanks to help from the Nebraska Corn Board.
Six ethanol blender pumps were unveiled last week providing flexible-fuel vehicle owners with the option of using E85, E30, E20 or the traditional E10 blend of gasoline. “If you drive a flex-fuel vehicle, you don’t have to fill up with E85 all the time,” said Jon Holzfaster, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “You can choose your ethanol blend based on price, performance and availability. That’s why they’re called ‘flexible.”
Higher blends of ethanol are key to realizing the full benefits of this domestically produced, renewable fuel, Holzfaster said. “The more flex fuel vehicles we have—and the higher blends of ethanol available across the nation—the more we generate economic strength for Nebraska and our entire nation, reduce our expensive and dangerous dependence on imported oil, and improve our environment,” said Holzfaster.
A computer sensor automatically compensates for varying levels of ethanol in the gasoline. The pumps were installed at the Bosselman’s station on Allen Drive in Grand Island. Bosselman’s plans to install more blender pumps in the state, with the next planned for stores at Ainsworth and Chappell.
Visitors to this year’s Earth Day Indiana celebration have the chance to “Live Green & Prosper” as they learn about the benefits of “going green” with biofuels, thanks to the Indiana corn and soybean growers’ Biofuels Mobile Learning Center.
The Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance will have their Biofuels Mobile Learning Center on display April 25 in downtown Indianapolis to educate the public about the environmental benefits of using biofuels.
“The Biofuels Mobile Learning Center is a fun and exciting, interactive, traveling exhibition focused on teaching its visitors about the many benefits of biodiesel and ethanol as fuel sources,” said Mark Walters, biofuels director for the state’s corn and soybean checkoff organizations. “The learning center is designed to provide an overview of how ethanol and biodiesel are manufactured; how these alternative fuels help both the environment and our rural economies; and how they lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”
The theme of this year’s big Hoosier Earth Day shindig is “how to do cool environmental stuff” and the learning center shows how fueling vehicles with biofuels is a cool way to help keep the environment green. The display will be one of about 130 conservation exhibits at the event, which last year was attended by 23,000 people.
Corn growers set their agenda for the year at last week’s Commodity Classic, with ethanol and locks and dams at the top of the list.
Rob Elliott, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, says ethanol is important to keep corn demand strong. Some of the priorities in that area include higher blend levels, increasing infrastructure and getting more FFVs on the road.
Regarding the locks and dams issue, Elliott says Midwest corn growers continue to work on getting Congress to fund improving the infrastructure on the inland waterways. “The lock and dams were built in the ’30s. They are aging and decaying and we’ve seen what a lock failure can do with Hurricanes Rita and Katrina,” said Elliott. “WRDA has passed, the authorization to do the improvements has happened, the missing link is the money to do the work.”
Elliott says they were disappointed that the funding was not included in the stimulus bill, “but we’ll spend time in the next couple months prior to the next appropriations bill and maybe get some money squeezed out to get things started.”
Corn growers will be going to Washington DC in the next few weeks to talk with their lawmakers about these issues and others that will be important not just for themselves, but for future farming generations – like Rob’s little granddaughter Delaney pictured here with him.
Listen to an interview with Rob here, conducted by Domestic Fuel reporter Joanna Schroeder:
The Illinois Corn Marketing Board will be sponsoring the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Clean Snowmobile Team in the upcoming 2009 Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge, which has a focus on ethanol fuel. The challenge this year will be held March 16-21, at Michigan Technical University in Houghton, Michigan with the theme being “Flex Fuel”.
Last year the NIU team placed 6th place overall and received the rookie of the year award running on E85 ethanol. This year the team hopes to finish in the top three with a 2007 500cc Turbo Charged Yamaha Phazer.
The “challenge” of each competition has been for students to modify a stock snowmobile to meet a series of requirements, including air pollution levels. Last year, snowmobiles were required to run on E85 ethanol. This year, snowmobiles can run on any blend of gasoline and ethanol up to 85 percent, making these true flex-fuel vehicles.
The SAE Challenge is a yearly collegiate competition that started in 2000 and is held every year to test the engineering and design capabilities of students from schools across the country.
Korff, who is vice chairman of the Missouri Corn Growers and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association Biotechnology Working Group, took part in a United Nations food security meeting and discussion on June 12 in St. Louis. 
According to Craig Floss, CEO of the Iowa Corn Growers, the race is an excellent opportunity to inform the general public about the benefits of corn and ethanol. “Our reach has moved well beyond the state of Iowa to a national and even a global audience,” said Floss. “We are able to have the sponsorship opportunities on television this year which is a great way for us to talk about corn, all the places corn goes, and all the products that include corn.”
Reinforce the importance of a strong corn and ethanol industry in Missouri. Grab a seed tag – or five – and use them to write the governor. This is one way to illustrate the economic impact of corn growers and make a strong statement of support for the incentive fund. We need you to do your part in flooding the governor’s office with seed tags. Please fill one out for each member of your operation and family with a stake in ethanol production and strong corn prices.
Corn growers are leading the charge in a new campaign stressing how corn-based ethanol gets biofuels right. This campaign now includes a 
The investment in Merrill, IA-based 
Under the agreement, Plymouth will purchase corn germ for further value-added processing in the Merrill facility. The raw germ will be converted into crude corn oil for human consumption and the resulting de-oiled germ will be incorporated into high value livestock feed. The production plant uses proven hexane extraction technology that efficiently extracts corn oil with targets to produce approximately 60 tons per day of crude corn oil and about 240 tons per day of corn germ meal.
Motorists in Grand Island, Nebraska now have a range of choices at the pump when it comes to ethanol blended gasoline, thanks to help from the Nebraska Corn Board.
Visitors to this year’s 
“The Biofuels Mobile Learning Center is a fun and exciting, interactive, traveling exhibition focused on teaching its visitors about the many benefits of biodiesel and ethanol as fuel sources,” said Mark Walters, biofuels director for the state’s corn and soybean checkoff organizations. “The learning center is designed to provide an overview of how ethanol and biodiesel are manufactured; how these alternative fuels help both the environment and our rural economies; and how they lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”
Rob Elliott, president of the 
The 