A tweet from Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply Blairo Maggi late yesterday afternoon informed the world that Brazil’s foreign trade chamber has approved a 20 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol imports after a 600 million liter tariff rate quota. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and Growth Energy issued a joint statement on the decision. …
USB Names Ruhland as New CEO
The United Soybean Board (USB) has named Polly Ruhland as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the checkoff organization, effective November 1, replacing retiring John Becherer. Ruhland has served as CEO of Cattlemen’s Beef Board since 2011. “Polly exceeded all of the attributes for what we as a board were looking for in a new CEO to lead us …
Commerce Finds Unfairly Subsidized Biodiesel Exports
The preliminary determination of the U.S. Department of Commerce is that exporters of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia did receive “countervailable subsidies” and may allow for collection of retroactive duties. “The U.S. values its relationships with Argentina and Indonesia, but even friendly nations must play by the rules,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The department determined that both countries subsidized …
Nebraska USFRA Food Dialogues to Focus on GMOs
The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is joining with the Nebraska Soybean Board to host a “Food Dialogues: Pivoting the GMO Conversation” at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln September 6 from 1:00-2:30 pm. Among the Dialogue participants will be Hilary Maricle, a Nebraska cattle, corn, pig and soybean farmer and CommonGround volunteer; and USFRA Face of Farming & …
Shifting to High Octane Ethanol Future
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual conference last week included a panel on shifting to high-octane fuel. First, Trey Binford, product manager of North America Dispensers at Wayne Fueling Systems, discussed the infrastructure component. He explained why Wayne differentiated itself as the first equipment manufacturer to exclusively offer fuel dispensers UL-listed for E25 to gasoline retailers in North America. …
Moving More Ethanol Exports
U.S. ethanol exports are setting records this year and that is due at least in part to the efforts of the U.S. Grains Council ethanol advisory team, chaired this year by Jim Glavin, CEO of Lakeview Energy. Galvin spoke at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual conference last week in Omaha about some of the global headwinds and tailwinds …
New Brownfield Reporter for IN and OH
The newest anchor/reporter on the Brownfield Ag News team is Amie Sites who will cover Indiana and Ohio for the multi-state radio network. Amie grew up in Walton, Ind. She majored in journalism and creative writing at Indiana University. Her passion for telling the stories of others led her to become a reporter for various newspapers including the Standard-Speaker, Pharos …
GROWMARK and COFCO Announce Grain Partnership
A new grain partnership was created on Friday between agricultural cooperative GROWMARK, Inc. and global supply chain agribusiness COFCO International Limited (CIL) providing a direct link from farmers in the Midwest to the global marketplace, and China in particular. “We now have a direct pipeline from our growers to the end user,” said Brent Ericson, GROWMARK Senior Vice President, Member …
NE Gov Highlights Value-Added Ag and Ethanol
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts highlighted Nebraska value-added agriculture efforts during a press conference at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual conference held in Omaha. “The ethanol industry is a prime example of how we can add value to the agriculture commodities that we grow right here in Nebraska,” said Governor Ricketts. “Through the process of turning corn into ethanol, …