RFA Ethanol Podcast

Grocers Join Opposition Against Farmers

Joanna Schroeder

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to interview retired farmer Merle Anderson for my Between the Lines blog (Three Pieces of Advice From the Father of Ethanol). For those who truly know, love and respect Merle, he is none other than the “Father of Ethanol”. Thirty four years ago, Merle got a group of farmers together in Minnesota (he …

Agribusiness, Corn, Ethanol

American Ethanol Will Power NASCAR

Chuck Zimmerman

NASCAR is in the middle of making an announcement of a “major long-term partnership with American Ethanol which is being led by Growth Energy. You can see a video that was just published below. I hope to have some audio from the announcement added after the official public announcement which is taking place in Las Vegas as of this posting. …

Ag Groups, Ethanol, NCGA, Video

Farm Bureau: Republicans Not Bad for Agriculture

John Davis

While some are worried that the new fiscal hawks who were elected as the Republicans swept control of the U.S. House will be bad for agricultural interests in this country, the American Farm Bureau Federation says the shift to the right doesn’t necessarily mean the wrong path for farm policies. “I know there’s people in the press who have said, …

AFBF, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Ethanol, NAFB

RFA Loves NAFB

Cindy Zimmerman

There were lots of ethanol issues to discuss at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual Trade Talk event in Kansas City last week. The topics included the lame duck session of Congress, importance of renewing biofuels tax incentives, doing more to invest in cellulosic ethanol, labeling for E15 at the pump, just to name a few. Renewable Fuels Association …

Audio, Ethanol, NAFB, RFA

Former Congressman Named Growth Energy President

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth Energy has announced former congressman Jim Nussle as new president and chief operating officer of the ethanol organization, effective November 1. Jim Nussle (pictured on the left with Growth CEO Tom Buis) is a former eight-term Congressman from Iowa and served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He has served on …

Audio, Ethanol

Vilsack Visits Georgia Peanut and Ethanol Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in the Peach State earlier this week talking with peanut growers and visiting an ethanol plant. Ethanol plants in the southeast are pretty rare – in fact, First United Ethanol, LLC (FUEL) is really the only one to speak of that is operating at any capacity. FUEL is a 100 million gallon per year corn-based …

Audio, Ethanol, Peanuts, USDA

Limited E15 Waiver Approval Fosters Mixed Emotions

Joanna Schroeder

The agriculture and ethanol industries responded favorably to the EPA’s decision to approve the voluntary use of E15 in cars manufactured in 2007 or later. The increase in ethanol blended into gasoline fuels could help the ethanol industry have a home for another 4-5 billion gallons per year. Last year, Growth Energy filed the E15 Waiver and after several delays, …

AFBF, Ethanol, NCBA, NCGA, RFA

Simultaneous Livestock and Ethanol Production

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the places visited by the TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable was Couser Cattle Company. Our host was Bill Couser. Bill conducted a fascinating presentation about his marriage of row crop farming (corn/soybeans), livestock production and ethanol production! You can see a portion of his explanation in the video below. He used a long table to display all …

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Corn, Ethanol, Farming, International, Sustainability, Technology, Video

Reaction to USDA Crop Forecast

Cindy Zimmerman

Both corn and soybean production for this year were cut in this month’s crop report out this morning from USDA. Corn production is forecast at 12.7 billion bushels, down 4 percent from the September forecast and down 3 percent from last year’s record production of 13.1 billion bushels. Soybean production is forecast at a record high 3.41 billion bushels, down …

AFBF, Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Grains, USDA, USGC