Domestic Fuel

The next set of biodiesel refineries will probably continue to be in rural America, but they might be part of livestock operations. This article from BeefProducer.com says Arkansas State University researcher Kevin Humphrey sees real potential for ranchers to produce their own biodiesel from oil seed crops, waste oil or tallow:

“If all you want to do is extract oil and meal, you can do that. If you want to extract and produce meal and then also produce biodiesel, you can do that,” he says.

Matt Roberts, vice president of marketing for Springboard Biodiesel, says if the oil is collected free, as might be beef tallow from rendering, the biodiesel will cost about 95 cents per gallon to make. That price includes the cost of the chemicals to make the biodiesel — methanol, lye, and sulfuric acid.

The article goes on to point out that with many of the biodiesel feedstock oilseeds, especially soybeans, the resulting meal from the crush is a high quality feed. Plus, the glycerin from biodiesel production can be a livestock feed and an ingredient in soaps, lotions and lubricants.

The author also spoke with Darrell Wood, cattle rancher and owner of Leavitt Lake Ranches in Vina, California, who believes a ranch-based biodiesel refinery might just make his place more sustainable.

“It just opens the door for all kinds of possibilities,” Wood says.

Pretty good article. Give it a read here.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How many generations are you removed from the farm?”

Our poll results: Thirty percent say they are “One Generation, My Parents are Farmers,” 23% are Two, My Grandparents Were Farmers, 22% say None, I’m a Farmer, nine percent are not farmers but work in the ag industry, seven percent have No Direct Farm Connection, and three percent say Three, My Great-Grandparents Were Farmers, More Than Three, or Other. It is safe to say that most of our followers are not far removed from the farm, if at all!

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Are so-called “ag gag” bills fair?” In the wake of undercover videos at animal agriculture operations that have shown abuse, and especially those that were compiled over a period of time, edited and then released to the public without doing anything to stop the abuse or take it to the proper authorities, several states have passed legislation making that illegal. Most of the laws simply require mandatory reporting of animal cruelty when it happens but opponents have labeled them “ag gag” laws that would suppress efforts to document and publicize animal abuse. Those in favor prefer to call them “See Something, Say Something” bills. Do you feel that the so-called “ag gag” bills are prohibitive? Will these laws hamper efforts to stop animal cruelty? Does this impede our efforts for transparency in the food systems? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by .

Grain buyers from around the world in attendance at the 2012 Export Exchange had the opportunity to embrace the US producers perspective on the 2012 crop through a producer panel during the opening general session. Key panelists were Ron Gray, Illinois farmer and Secretary/Treasurer of the US Grains Council, and John Mages, Minnesota farmer and Chairman of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council.

They shared their personal experiences overcoming the 2012 drought and assured buyers of their fight and passion to raise a consistent and quality product.

Listen to the entire Producers Panel here: Producer Panel at Export Exchange

Following the opening session I took the time to talk with Ron Gray, where he summed up the 2012 corn crop and how farming for him is more than a job, its a personal endeavor.

“For us the 2012 crop started out with all the hope of an extraordinary crop. We planted early, the crop went in very well, emergence was good. Then it didn’t rain. Beginning the second week of May through the first week of August we only had about three inches of total rainfall and because of that our corn crop was severely reduced in production. Our farm probably averaged 50 bushels an acre, which is approximately 1/3 of our normal production. The rainfall did come later and the soybean crop is a fairly good crop, but the corn crop was devastated.”

Listen to my interview with Ron here: Ron Gray Interview

Beyond simply listening to producers, international grain buyers had the opportunity to visit farms across the United States. The goal was to gain information, assess the current US corn crop, explore the availability of other grains such as sorghum and barley, and build relationships leading to future sales.

Many participants expressed a preference for buying US grains due to the consistency and quality of the grain. They also appreciate the transparency and reliability of the US marketing and delivery systems. Clearly price and availability hindered US exports this year, but buyers are looking forward to a better crop next year.

You can find photos from this years Export Exchange here: 2012 Export Exchange

USDA is changing the release time of certain key statistical reports beginning in January 2013.

According to a USDA news release the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will begin issuing several major USDA statistical reports at 12:00 p.m. EDT beginning in January 2013. The current USDA release time of 8:30 a.m. EDT will remain in effect until January 1, 2013. USDA statistical reports affected are: World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, Acreage, Crop Production, Grain Stocks, Prospective Plantings, and Small Grains Summary. The time for livestock reports currently released at 3:00 p.m. will not change.

USDA officials made the decision about the release times after considering nearly 150 comments submitted by stakeholders during a 30 day comment period between June 8 and July 9, 2012. “USDA considered all comments and thanks everyone for their thoughtful suggestions,” said USDA Chief Economist Joseph W. Glauber. “The shift to a noon release allows for the greatest liquidity in the markets, provides the greatest access to the reports during working hours in the United States, and continues equal access to data among all parties.”

A new corn trait from Syngenta can offer increased efficiency for ethanol plants and premiums for farmers who grow it.

Enogen corn was specifically developed for ethanol production and just fully approved by USDA in February 2011. According to David Witherspoon with Syngenta, Enogen contains alpha amylase, one of the primary enzymes used in ethanol production. “So when this corn goes to an ethanol plant, their enzymes are delivered in the corn,” he said during an interview at the 2012 Farm Progress Show.

“It helps them increase alcohol production and because it works on a broad pH and temperature range, they don’t have to use as much ammonia, or sulfuric acid or heat,” Witherspoon said. “So they get more alcohol and use less energy.”

It took about 15 years for Syngenta to get Enogen to market and this is the first year the corn trait has been grown commercially. “We have two ethanol plants signed as customers,” said Witherspoon. “We have also tested in one other plant we anticipate will sign in the next 2-3 weeks.”

The plants contract with farmers to grow the Enogen corn. “We will work to facilitate the contract and put a full time person in the field to make sure they understand the hybrids and how the contracts work,” said Witherspoon.

Mike Missman of Woden, Iowa is a seed dealer and a farmer who planted Enogen corn this year, following the program regarding the use of the seed. “The stewardship rules are strict but they’re easy to follow,” said Missman. “You just don’t want that seed to go into another field.” Missman is contracting this year with Syngenta for a trial with a local ethanol plant.

One of the plants testing Enogen is Golden Grain Energy of Mason City, Iowa and Witherspoon says they toured that plant with the Syngenta global corn team during Farm Progress Show last week. “We really want the global group to understand the importance of the RFS to farmers, it actually has an international effect,” he said. “Ethanol has actually driven profitability worldwide in corn in places where it’s not been profitable.”

Listen to my interview with Witherspoon and Missman from Farm Progress Show to learn more about Enogen: Syngenta Enogen Corn interview

With the 2012 crop year now underway, we’re introducing the BASF Production Poll. This new poll will be conducted twice each month during the season with timely questions that we think both farmers and non-farmers alike will find interesting. We’d love to hear from you. So let’s get started with our first one.

Please let us know if you have any questions about the poll.

Corn planting is running well above normal across the country, fueling speculation that this year’s crop could be huge.

The crop progress report this week shows that seven percent of the nation’s corn crop is now planted – more than double normal for this time of year. Progress in some Midwestern states has already hit double digits. Missouri has 23% of the crop planted compared to the five-year average of 8% and Illinois is at 17% where just 3% is normal. Huge gains were seen from the previous week in states like Tennessee, which jumped from 15 to 46% planted in a week, while Kentucky went from 5 to 32%. Normally, only 10 of the 18 top corn states have corn in the ground by this time of year but right now only North Dakota and Wisconsin have nothing to report.

Doing the math on the USDA Prospective Planting report predicting almost 96 million acres of corn this year and using only the five year average corn yield of 154.3 bushels per acre, there is the potential for a 14.8 billion bushel crop.

“Certainly if we have a trend yield, we’ll see record production and we should see substantial rebuilding of stocks,” said USDA chief economist Joe Glauber. “We were calculating with even 94 million acres we would see almost a doubling of stock yields.” That, he says, should moderate corn prices considerably which would provide some relief for both livestock and ethanol producers. The newest World Agricultural Supply Demand Estimate projects season-average corn prices at $6.00 to $6.40 per bushel.

The report also notes that corn to produce ethanol in 2011/12 is unchanged again this month at 5 billion bushels, while the latest monthly data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that average daily ethanol disappearance fell to a 23-month low in January pushing ethanol stocks to a new record high. Weekly EIA ethanol production data suggest average daily ethanol production during February and March has continued to fall hitting its lowest level since early last fall.

Legislative issues related to biofuels on both the Illinois state level and the national level are priorities for the GROWMARK agricultural cooperative system this year, according to government affairs director Chuck Spencer.

On the state level, Spencer says Illinois will be looking at updating sales tax incentives this year with the pending introduction of 15% ethanol blends in the consumer marketplace. “The state of Illinois has been very good at recognizing the benefits and values of biofuels, not only for the economic opportunities but also for consumers,” he said. “Right now we have a tax credit focused on E10 and as we know E15 is making it through the approval process on the national level so we’re looking at how we can adjust our state programs to match up with the increased levels of renewable fuels, 15% or even higher for ethanol in the gasoline supply.”

On the national level, maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard is important for GROWMARK and its grower members. “We are one of the larger renewable fuel distributors in the nation,” Spencer said. “We can foresee the productivity of supply on the ethanol side continuing to provide a benefit in keeping fuel costs down for consumers and we’re getting ready to plant one of the largest crops we’ve seen in quite a while so agriculture is ready to meet the demand and we’re hopeful that the rest of the country understands how important that is.”

Since GROWMARK is part owner in a Missouri-based biodiesel plant, Spencer says renewal of the biodiesel tax incentive is also important to them.

Listen to my interview with Chuck Spencer here: GROWMARK's Chuck Spencer

A significant majority believe that ethanol production is a good thing. In answer to this past week’s ZimmPoll question, “Is Ethanol production good for ALL of Agriculture?” 64% said yes and 36% said no. That still shows a large group who aren’t on board the ethanol bandwagon. If you’re in the “no” group let us know why by posting a comment.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What is your Christmas/Holiday entree?” The holidays are almost here and I’ll be you’ve got plans made already. We sure hope you have a happy holiday time with family and friends.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

The Iowa Corn Caucus released its report card for presidential candidates today, giving grades for different policy areas related to agriculture, including energy and biofuels, and an overall grade for each candidate.

The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who received straight As on energy policies, but faltered under farm programs in the areas of crop insurance and conservation. President Obama received a grade of B, as did Mitt Romney, but the rest of the four major Republican candidates got no more than a C minus. Rick Perry received that grade, while Michelle Bachmann was close behind with a D+ and both Herman Cain and Ron Paul got Ds. Cain in particular failed miserably in the energy policy category and farm programs – getting straight Fs in all those areas. The energy category included three specific areas – Ethanol and Energy Policy Generally; Renewable Fuels Standard; and Ethanol Infrastructure.

“Our purpose wasn’t to endorse any candidate, but instead to give farmers a tool that they could take with them to the caucuses in January,” said Iowa Corn Growers senior policy advisor Amanda Taylor. The survey for candidates was developed in conjunction with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to include ten questions directly related to agricultural issues.

ICGA president Kevin Ross noted that only half of candidates responded to the survey, so the Corn Caucus used other methods to determine the grades. “We tracked interviews, speeches, media quotes and all things related to agriculture, including voting records of candidates who held office,” he said. The candidates who did return the survey were Obama, Cain, Gingrich and Santorum.

Find out more about the Corn Caucus project results from the ICGA website, and listen to a press conference this morning about it here: Iowa Corn Caucus Results

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) hosted a Farm Bill listening session with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) and area agricultural leaders last week at the ACE office in Sioux Falls.

“The farm bill plays a critical role in providing a safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers and has included important biofuel provisions in the past that we want to maintain,” said ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings.

In addition to Sen. Johnson and Jennings, participants who attended the event last Tuesday included Craig Schaunaman, USDA Farm Service Agency; Scott VanderWal, South Dakota Farm Bureau; Gary Duffy, South Dakota Corn Growers Association; Jeremy Freking, South Dakota Soybean Association; Kevin Kephart, South Dakota State University; Paul Brandt, South Dakota Pork Producers Council and Doug Sombke, South Dakota Farmers Union.

Farmers interested in producing and trading energy crops for feedstock could be helped by a new IT management platform.

Ontario-based New Energy Farms, a developer of the energy crop Miscanthus in North America, has teamed up with Muddy Boots Software to provide this new service to the energy crop market.

According to the companies, the platform will enable direct trading of energy crops or arable biomass from farmer to end user and allow users to work with large numbers of farmers directly through an aggregation system. Other benefits include accurate energy balance and audit reporting for the whole year or even each load, energy crop yield predictions and allowing a secure route to market for plant breeders to commercialize and license new cultivars.

Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R, IN-3rd) have introduced a farm bill that they say would save $40 billion and includes provisions that support the development of advanced biofuels.

“We offer our bill as a thoughtful option for consideration by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, as well as the Congressional Deficit Reduction ‘Super’ Committee charged with making real federal spending cuts by the end of the year,” Lugar said of the bill they have entitled “The Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger Act” or REFRESH.

In the energy section, the legislation would “extend the current loan guarantee authority to help demonstrate new technologies, processes, and techniques for production of advanced biofuels and co-products.” It would also reform the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to focus on “demonstrating opportunities for farmers to diversify their income through rearing bioenergy crops and improving techniques and equipment for collecting biomass from the land for delivery to advanced biofuel production.”

The bill would would also reform farm programs, update conservation programs and close nutrition program eligibility loopholes. It also proposes to repeal the mandatory federal sugar program, allowing for market pricing of sugar.

The partnership between American Ethanol and NASCAR was on display at the 2011 Farm Progress Show, where racing fans got a chance to meet with former driver and current team owner Richard Childress.

Pictured here with Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis, Childress said his team’s partnership with American Ethanol and the NASCAR series using a 15% ethanol blend this year is good for the country. “I’m a huge supporter of everything we do in America, from our farmers to our military,” he said. “This country has to quit depending on so much foreign energy and resources. We gotta do better.”

Childress says that NASCAR has had no problems making the transition to 15% ethanol fuel and next year they will go to fuel injection. “The fuel injection and the American Ethanol is really going to work out great,” he added.

Listen to or download interview with Richard Childress here: Richard Childress at Farm Progress Show

Buis says the partnership with the National Corn Growers Association to spotlight ethanol at NASCAR has been reaching a great audience. “We get a great reaction from the fans and people who watch it at home on television,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier. I think we’re getting our message out there.”

Listen to or download interview with Tom Buis here: Tom Buis at Farm Progress Show

Pam Johnson, an Iowa farmer who will become first vice president of National Corn Growers Association next month, says the partnership with NASCAR is exciting. “With NASCAR we’re reaching people outside the Midwest, all over the country from Richmond out to California,” Pam said at Farm Progress Show. “So we are getting the message out to a whole new group of people who need to hear the story told and we think NASCAR’s a great vehicle for that.”

Johnson added that the Illinois Corn Growers were also highlighting their partnership with NASCAR and driver Kenny Wallace. “When you get a driver out there talking about the speed and the extra power they get driving and then bringing it back to the consumer,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll all have access to E15 as those NASCAR drivers are putting in their vehicles.”

Listen to or download interview with Pam Johnson here: Pam Johnson with NCGA at Farm Progress Show

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen visited with farmers, friends and the farm media at the 2011 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois this week.

Dinneen has been traveling around the Midwest this month and says he is always amazed by the ability of the nation’s farmers to do their job, no matter what Mother Nature throws at them. “The fact of the matter is, the American farmer is the most productive and efficient in the world,” Bob says. “We will get through this and there will be enough supply to meet the needs for grain that exist.”

On the other hand, Dinneen is frustrated with the inability of Congress to do its job. “It’s got everything to do with a dysfunctional Congress that couldn’t agree on whether or not Mother’s Day was a good thing,” he said, adding that in terms of energy policy, nothing is happening right now. “They’re focused right now on this super committee which is a recipe for more gridlock. There’s no way those 12 members are going to be able to come up with a plan to address the country’s needs in terms of the budget and taxes.”

In this Ethanol Report interview with Dinneen from Farm Progress Show, he also talks about the Republican presidential candidates and what is happening with the 15% ethanol waiver.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: RFA CEO Bob Dinneen at the 2011 Farm Progress Show