Domestic Fuel

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

Florida’s annual Farm to Fuel Summit has been postponed.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam sent out an announcement today saying that a bill passed during the recently concluded Florida legislative session prompted the decision.

The Florida legislature approved the transfer of the State Energy Office from the Executive Office of the Governor to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services effective July 1, a move which is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. “In light of this potential transfer, we have decided to postpone the 2011 Farm to Fuel Summit,” Putnam said. “If the transfer is approved, we will immediately begin to plan a conference that takes a more comprehensive approach to energy policy in Florida and reflects the expanded role of the Department. We expect this conference will be scheduled for the fall of 2011.”

The 6th annual Farm to Fuel Summit had been scheduled for August 3-5 in Orlando.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) has named U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack the 2011 Biofool of the Year, the organization’s award that recognizes “leaders that promote dirty biofuels.”

According to FOE, Vilsack received 2,424 votes of the more than 6,000 cast and they say he definitely deserves the honor. “With Secretary Vilsack at the helm, the USDA has doubled down on its support for corn ethanol and biofuels.” FOE is asking supporters to sign on to a letter they will deliver to Secretary Vilsack later this month, “congratulating him on earning this honor and thanking him for his efforts to promote dirty biofuels at the expense of a comprehensive agriculture policy that would actually help American farmers who grow food!”

The letter reads, in part:
You justify your support for ethanol subsidies because you think ethanol subsidies support farmers. Yet, ethanol subsidies go to refiners, not farmers, and less than 20 percent of America’s ethanol is produced in farmer-owned refineries. The other 80 percent is produced by conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland and Big Oil companies.

Actually, the ethanol subsidy – the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) or blenders credit – goes to fuel blenders, not farmers or refiners. According to the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), as of last year, it is true that totally farmer-owned ethanol plants produced about 2.5 billion gallons of ethanol annually, almost 20 percent of the industry’s total capacity. “However, many other U.S. ethanol plants can be considered “locally owned” because local community members are shareholders in the companies,” according to ACE. That would include the world’s largest ethanol producer, POET, which is a privately held company. The 27 POET Biorefineries are owned by various investors, including farmers, most of whom purchased shares in a private offering. POET’s current production capacity stands at about 1.7 billion gallons annually – or about 12-13 percent of current U.S. production. ADM and oil company-backed plants such as Valero produce a significant amount of the nation’s current capacity, but there are many other company-owned or publicly traded ethanol companies, like Pacific Ethanol, that could hardly be classified as “conglomerates.”

Regardless of the facts, Secretary Vilsack is definitely deserving of this honor recognizing his support of ethanol and Domestic Fuel congratulates him.

“I think people are going to catch on. That this thing is real and it going to work,” said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles A. Bronson during an interview about Farm to Fuel. One of Bronson’s long-term goals has been to turn Florida into an alternative energy leader in areas such as biofuels.

This year marked the fifth year of the Farm to Fuel Summit, where academia, growers, investors, distributors and everyone in between came together for three days in Orlando, Florida “cut deals” that will grow the states biofuels industry.

“From the beginning we decided we wanted to include all potential sides of the alternative fuels business,” said Bronson. “Every single meeting we’ve had, a deal has been put into place. Every year we’ve had at least one big deal to come out of these meetings.”

Bronson believes that interest in biofuels has grown, in part, because people have become more informed. He also believes that the alternative energy revolution is going to happen. He stressed that new technologies will be more efficient and said, “We’re going to be growing crops that will be 8-10 times more efficient than corn ethanol production.”

While Bronson is in all the way for biofuels, he is not in for the reason that many may suspect. “I’ve never been a global warming theorist but I do believe in weather patterns,” said Bronson. “And sooner or later, we’ll run out of oil.”

You can listen to Bronson’s interview here with special thanks to Southeast AgNET. Bronson Discusses Success of Farm to Fuel

This was me moments before rain drops hit Iowa Speedway again yesterday. After years of taking photos of other people getting a ride in the Indy 2-Seater I finally had my chance. But just as we were about to pull onto the track rain canceled the deal. Oh well, maybe another time. I do think I look good in an Indy Car though. Thanks to Ann Marie Edwards, Edwards Communications, for the photo. Our two drivers for the event were Sarah Fisher and Davey Hamilton.

When I got in line I was surprised to be right behind Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. Bill follows me on Twitter and is an AgWired fan btw! So, I got my iPhone out for a short interview. He says that the challenges in the Gulf remind us that a home grown fuel like ethanol is one we ought to be producing more of. He’d like to see an extension of the ethanol tax credit this year. He says we need domestic fuel, we need jobs and we need economic activity and ethanol answers those needs.

You can listen to my interview with Sec. Northey below.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1,005.5KB)

Presenting his new “cornucopia biorefinery” model to produce food, fertilizer and fuel from corn, SynGest, Inc. CEO Jack Oswald led attendees in chants of “Till Baby Till” as he delivered the keynote address at the 2010 International Biomass Conference in Minneapolis last week.

“Our integrated biorefinery model will put an end to the ‘food versus fuel’ debate,” Oswald said. “Now you can have your fuel and eat it too.”

According to Oswald, the Cornucopia process can yield an impressive slate of end products, including anhydrous ammonia, food grade corn oil, high protein food for human consumption, stillage for animal feed, butanol for liquid transportation fuel, and biochar for conditioning and maintaining soil.

“We intend to use each and every component in an ear of corn,” said Oswald. “The cob and bran are gasified into hydrogen for ammonia synthesis, while leaving biochar as residue. The germ is separated into food grade oil and protein, and the endosperm/starch is converted into butanol and animal feed.” Oswald notes that his integrated biorefinery concept “represents a true intersection between agriculture and energy interests, a formula that sets SynGest apart from others who are just making fuel, power or singular bioproducts.”

The concept has already produced one new product – “Till, Baby, Till” t-shirts – available for $19.99 in short sleeve or $24.99 in long sleeve models.

Tax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging Congress to pass two bills that would extend renewable fuel tax credits for five years.

In a statement presented for the record to a House Ways and Means Committee hearing this week on energy tax incentives, AFBF said long-term tax incentives are needed to boost renewable energy technologies and support development of the market infrastructure necessary to make these technologies more competitive.

AFBF supports legislation that would extend the biodiesel tax incentive for five years and change the biodiesel tax incentive from a blenders excise tax credit to a production excise tax credit. The general farm organization also backs the Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act that extends the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit and the Small Ethanol Producers Tax Credit for five years through 2015. That bill also extends the Cellulosic Ethanol Production Tax Credit for three years, through 2015 and the secondary tariff on ethanol that offsets the benefit received by imported ethanol.

“Clean and renewable domestic energy will help America achieve long-term economic growth, create a cleaner environment and shield our energy supply from unreliable foreign sources,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Renewable fuels are vital for rural America. They create much needed jobs and open new markets for farmers and ranchers. Tax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy.”

According to Jonathan Coppess, USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator, biomass producers, energy facilities and communities are benefiting from USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). Through April 2, 2010, USDA has approved 4,605 agreements for the delivery of more than 4.18 million tons of biomass and paid eligible biomass owners $165,274,695 in matching payments under BCAP’s first phase. BCAP was established in the 2008 Farm Bill.

“We’ve had dozens of reports from biomass producers, energy facilities and communities that are benefiting from BCAP payments right now, which shows the incredible potential of this innovative program,” said Coppess.

The program authorized USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to help those producing biomass by providing matching payments for the collection, harvest, storage and transportation of eligible biomass delivered to approved facilities to convert it to biofuels. FSA service centers across the country have issued payments of up to $45 per dry ton for eligible biomass deliveries. Biomass is any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis including: agricultural commodities, plants, trees, algae, and other animal, vegetative and wood waste materials.

“Congress directed USDA to establish a program to encourage farmers and forest landowners to help develop the biomass supply chain and accelerate energy independence, rural economic development and renewable sources of energy,” said Coppess. “Since we issued initial guidance last June, BCAP has gathered momentum and our efforts to expedite matching payments provided valuable, real-world information and experiences that will inform the crafting of the final regulation, as well as some much-needed economic stimulus in many rural areas.

Once the final rule for the program is approved, it will provide funding for producers of renewable biomass who establish new biomass crops within select geographical areas and will continue to provide matching payments for deliveries of eligible materials. Click here to access charts showing BCAP Collection, Harvest, Storage & Transportation Component and Summary Reports.

More corn acreage is in the forecast for this year, according to the USDA Prospective Plantings report out today, and there is still plenty more in storage.

According to the forecast, farmers intend to plant 88.8 million acres of corn in 2010, three percent more than both last year and 2008. Meanwhile, the Grain Stocks report shows corn stocks as of the beginning of this month were up 11 percent compared to last year at 7.69 billion bushels.

Matt Hartwig with the Renewable Fuels Association says the numbers show that farmers are producing plenty of corn for both food and fuel. “Corn in storage at this point in the year is at its highest level since 1987, a year in which an all-time record surplus of corn was recorded,” Hartwig notes. “The amount of corn currently stored on farms (4.6 billion bushels) is larger than the amount of corn that is expected to be processed into ethanol in 2009/10 (4.2 billion bushels).” Hartwig also points out that the total amount of corn in storage right now (7.7 billion bushels) “is larger than the total amounts of corn harvested annually as recently as the early 1990s.”

Early reaction to the prospective plantings report is that corn acreage will likely be higher than forecast. While the report estimates corn acreage will increase by 300,000 or more in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio, a decrease of 200,000 acres is forecast for Iowa. However, corn growers in Iowa say they definitely expect to see their acres increase when it’s all said and done. Northeast Iowa farmer Tim Burrack, chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, says the survey was done a few weeks ago when the weather still looked pretty bleak, but that has turned around dramatically. “In our area, I am amazed at how quickly winter left and spring came,” Burrack said during a telephone press conference Wednesday morning. Field work has been underway since Friday and he says they should be ready to plant as soon as the soil warms up.

In southwest Iowa, grower Kevin Ross says the corn that was left unharvested over winter also probably had an impact on the acreage estimate, but the combines are running now and getting the last of that corn out of the fields so they will be ready to plant. Ross says more corn means more ethanol, which means it is even more important for the EPA to approve E15 blends for gasoline. “With the huge stocks being carried out and this extra increase in acres, plus the bushel per acre increase last year, it’s really critical to the success and livelihood of corn farmers to get this corn crop marketed,” he said. “For me and farmers all across the US, E15 being approved by EPA is really very important and I sure as heck hope they see that it’s a good way to go … we need that market.”

Weather in the corn belt this week is nearly ideal for field preparation and soil warming so farmers are hopeful they will not see the planting delays they have experienced the past two years.