High Octane 10% Ethanol at the Buffalo Chip

Cindy Zimmerman

Buffalo Chip Campground fueling station in Sturgis, SD

Motorcycle riders – and all motorists – traveling around Sturgis, S.D., can now fuel up 24 hours a day with 93 octane, 10% ethanol thanks to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), which has donated a permanent fueling station to the Buffalo Chip Campground.

RFA VP of Industry Relations Robert White says they have partnered with the Buffalo Chip since 2009 to help educate motorcyclists about ethanol during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but this new fueling station will keep that going year round. “Motorcycle owners are typically looking for high octane, and ethanol helps provide that,” said White. “The Buffalo Chip is the only location in the area that offers 93 octane. The 93 is achieved by adding 10% ethanol to standard 91 octane premium, and thanks to the cost savings of ethanol, 93 octane is actually cheaper than 91 octane.”

RFA’s partnership with the Buffalo Chip has been fostered by the strong support of owner Rod Woodruff. “We are excited about this new addition and the ability to offer fuel to the public thanks to the Renewable Fuels Association,” said Woodruff. “It will be one more service we can provide while helping set the record straight on ethanol.”

RFA has been offering 10% ethanol for motorcyclists at the campground with Free Fuel Happy Hours during the Sturgis rally, so White says the new fueling station will make that effort a lot easier this year. “We’ll be doing it at an actual gas station, so it will be a unique experience, but we are very excited to see how many motorcycles we can get through in those three hours each day,” said White. The 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will be held August 4-13. Watch the video below to see more.

White talks about about the partnership in this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast: Ethanol Report on Sturgis E10 Station

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Audio, Ethanol, RFA

AEM Names Curt Blades as Senior VP AG Services

Cindy Zimmerman

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has named Curt Blades as senior vice president, AG services, replacing Charlie O’Brien, who announced his retirement from AEM earlier this year.

Beginning August 1, Blades will be responsible for strategic direction of agriculture programs and services for the AEM membership, and will serve as primary liaison with ag-specific industry organizations, customer groups and government agencies, both in North America and worldwide.
He replaces Charlie O’Brien, who announced his retirement from AEM earlier this year.

“We are very pleased to welcome Curt to the AEM team and look forward to the expertise and enthusiasm he brings,” said AEM President Dennis Slater.

Blades has been working for Meredith Corporation since 2002, most recently as Group Business Development Director, and he has been very active in the National Agri-Marketing Association, Agribusinesss Education Foundation and Agriculture Council of America. We’ve known Curt since he was an intern at Brownfield Network while studying at the University of Missouri to get his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He also holds a master’s degree in agribusiness from Kansas State and grew up on a 5,000-acre farm in northeast Missouri.

Learn more about Curt and his new gig in this interview: Interview with Curt Blades

AEM, Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, NAMA, Publication

Precision Bytes 7/7

Kelly Marshall

  • Agri-Inject has announced the newest of their fluid injection check valves, the Mister Mist’r.  The new versatile and durable designs brings consistent product injection to a wide variety of applications.
  • Benson Hill Biosystems will be working with GDM Seeds to improve and enhance their soybean research program globally.  GDM will be using Benson Hill’s cognitive platform, Crop OS, to achieve accelerated breeding processes.
  • Bayer has donated $50,000 on behalf of canola farmers through the 2017 More for Everyone project. The money will help rebuilt a school destroyed by fire, provide AED to a community miles from a hospital, purchase equipment for a fire department and other needs important to local canola growers.
  • Soy Checkoff dollars are being used to provide cutting-edge software to growers of high oleic soybeans.  Agrible is proud to provide the data and analysis tools to help high oleic growers in Ohio and Indian become more sustainable and are looking for participants for the program.
AgWired Precision, Zimfo Bytes

Adapt-N Brings Value to Farmers a Million Times a Day

Cindy Zimmerman

Agronomic Technology Corp – a leader in agricultural field modeling for soil, water, crops, and fertilizer – has just surpassed over one million daily nitrogen recommendations and is nearing one billion cumulative platform recommendations. The company provides Adapt-N and N-Insight and is adding additional crop, nutrient, soil, and yield solutions to its platform.

“We’ve gained traction because the value to farmers is real. We have the most advanced and proven nitrogen management solutions that are independently shown to increase crop yield and input efficiency for an average profit increase of $30/acre,” says Steve Sibulkin, CEO of Agronomic Technology Corp.

ATC CEO Steve Sibulkin (left) discusses optimizing yields at 2017 Forbes AgTech Summit

The company took part recently in Forbes’ AgTech Summit in Salinas, CA and impressed Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research Executive Director Ken Zuckerberg, who spoke at the summit. “There are many agricultural data companies claiming to ‘add value’ but lacking a credible way to prove the ROI,” said Zuckerberg. “Agronomic is one of a handful of exceptional agricultural technology companies always focused on provable value to farmers and partners.”

Leading ag retailers, crop consultants, and technology companies have partnered with Adapt-N to deliver advanced nitrogen management solutions to growers. The company has also completed integrations with key software solutions, including SST Software, Agrian, EFC Systems, and the John Deere Operations Center. Sibulkin expects many more to come on board as well, including through the use of Agronomic Technology Corp’s own API. “”We’re now leveraging our low-cost-provider position with approaches that give farmers and their advisors even more control, more value, and lower prices,” Sibulkin says.

Learn more about how Adapt-N works in this video:


Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Video

New Award Honors Two Montana Farm Broadcasters

Cindy Zimmerman

Taylor Brown (L) received award from Sen. Steve Daines (R) along with Sen. Burns’ widow Phyllis Burns

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) recently honored the late Conrad Burns, U.S. Senator and farm broadcaster, with the first-ever Conrad Burns Ag Technology Award – appropriately presented to Taylor Brown, owner of the Northern Ag Network which was founded by Burns in 1975.

Sen. Daines presented the award last month at the Montana Ag Summit on June 1 Before about 700 attendees. “Senator Conrad Burns was an advocate for technology to bring connectivity to Montana,” said Daines. “This award recognizes Montanans who have sought to advance agriculture through technology.”

Daines noted that the Northern Ag Network uses the latest technology to deliver agricultural programming to 60 radio and 10 TV stations in Montana, Wyoming, and the western Dakotas along with their popular digital platform, NorthernAg.Net, that includes a weekly electronic newsletter and various social media.

NAFB

Animal Ag Bites 7/6

Jamie Johansen

ag_wired_animal-ag-bites

  • Alltech launches The Great Green Getaway. In partnership with KEENAN, maker of the “Green Machine” mixer wagon, the contest invites American dairy farmers to enter for the opportunity to win one of three travel-expense-paid trips for two to Ireland in March 2018, coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day.
  • The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® has announced its 6th annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award winners. The program recognizes dairy farms, businesses, and partnerships whose practices improve the well-being of people, animals and the planet. From farm to table, transparency and ingenuity drive dairy forward, as demonstrated in the newly released 2016 Sustainability Report, which describes the Innovation Center’s strategic plan focused on social responsibility. Meet the 2017 winners here.
  • World Dairy Expo is now accepting entries for the 2017 Dairy Cattle Show, October 3-7, in Madison, Wis. Online and paper entry forms are due August 31 at 11:59 p.m. (CST). Late entries may be submitted online through September 10, and paper entries will be honored until the day of the show, both for an increased fee.
  • The Animal Ag Alliance’s College Aggies Online scholarship competition kicks off September 10 and is all about developing life-long advocates for agriculture. Last year, 344 participants and 35 clubs representing 36 different states generated more than 1,880 social media posts reaching 2.3 million people. They are also seeking sponsors for this year’s competition.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Industry Reacts to Proposed Biofuels Levels

Cindy Zimmerman

The ethanol industry and corn farmers are pleased, but biodiesel producers and soybean growers are not so much with new proposed levels for biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) released by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The 2018 RFS level for conventional biofuels, including corn ethanol, was maintained at 15 billion gallons, the maximum under current law, which Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says will benefit both producers and consumers. “By maintaining the 15 billion gallon level for corn ethanol, the rule will also help to drive more investment in infrastructure to accommodate higher ethanol blends,” said Dinneen.

He is concerned, however, with the reduction in the cellulosic biofuel requirement to 238 million gallons but he understands that EPA has to base the numbers on actual production. “Unfortunately, last year and the year before cellulose did not meet their required volumes,” said Dinneen.

In this interview, Dinneen also gives update on Brazil’s attempt to impose tariffs on U.S. ethanol: Interview with Bob Dinneen, RFA

On the biodiesel side, the EPA proposal would maintain the minimum required biomass-based diesel volumes at 2.1 billion gallons for 2019, far below the industry request of 2.75 billion gallons. The EPA also proposed to set the 2018 RFS for advanced biofuels based on a minimum applicable volume of 4.24 billion gallons, a decrease from 4.28 billion gallons for 2017.

“This proposal continues to underestimate the ability of the biomass-based diesel industry to meet the volumes of the RFS program,” said Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board. “The EPA should be committed to diversifying the diesel fuel market and prioritizing advanced biofuels. Targets like this ignore reality and the law, inhibiting growth in the industry.”

Steckel says it is important that the administration keep the RFS separate from trade issues such as low cost imports of biodiesel from Argentina. “The way that can be handled is through our anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases that are pending,” she said.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Anne Steckel, NBB

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, RFA

Zimfo Bytes

Lizzy Schultz

Zimfo Bytes

  • The 2017 class of the NCGA DuPont New Leaders Program, now entering its fourth year of helping farming couples and individuals become better communicators, leaders and advocates for agriculture, held its first session last week in Johnston, Iowa.
  • U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) has joined Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) to introduce the bipartisan Agriculture Equipment and Machinery Depreciation Act to help farmers purchase new equipment and replace worn-out machinery by amending the U.S. tax code to permanently set a five-year depreciation schedule for certain agricultural equipment.
  • – CNH Industrial has announced the launch of a new online Newsroom for the North American region. The newsroom features a media portal for members of the press and news outlets to access the best and most up to date information about CNH Industrial and five of its brands, Case IH, CASE Construction Equipment, New Holland Agriculture, New Holland Construction, and FPT Industrial.
Zimfo Bytes

“Peanut Program Works” Website and Video Launched

Cindy Zimmerman

As preparations for the 2018 Farm Bill begin, the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation (SPFF) has launched a website and video to showcase the benefits of the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program in the 2014 Farm Bill.

Through the website, SPFF aims to educate policymakers, farmers and the agriculture community about why the Peanut Program must be retained in the upcoming Farm Bill. The message challenges attempts by a new Florida peanut group not affiliated with SPFF to change the program, according to Don Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

“The fact is the Florida Peanut Federation would undermine the market-based Peanut Program that works for peanut farmers, our families and our communities by pushing to dramatically lower the reference price and championing a self-serving effort on behalf of a few farmers who want to arbitrarily declare peanut base – a move that would put farmers in our community out of business and wreak chaos in the marketplace,” Koehler said.

The SPFF consists of the main peanut grower organizations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi – including the Florida Peanut Producers Association, but not the new organization.

AgWired Precision, Farm Bill, Peanuts

NCGA Dedicated to Driving Ethanol Demand

Cindy Zimmerman

State and National Corn Grower Association (NCGA) staff recently met to conduct an in-depth, state of the ethanol industry analysis in Bloomington, Illinois at the offices of Illinois Corn. The goal was to discuss and review the ethanol plan constructed by the group last November.

The corn team reviewed ethanol production, demand and volume obligation scenarios under the Renewable Fuels Standard and discussed demand strategy for the future such as growing ethanol consumption through higher ethanol blends, increasing exports, expanding relationships with automakers and assuring a united approach with consistent messaging from corn farmers and other ethanol supporters.

NCGA is also expanding its staff for ethanol creating the new position of manager of renewable fuels in the St. Louis office. Peter Magner brings a combination of experience in research, public policy and energy management to the job where he will provide key support to ethanol programs within the organization.

Magner most recently worked as a forest technician for the Duke University Forest. Previously, he also held other positions with the North Carolina League of Conservation Votes and the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He earned a master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls.

Corn, Ethanol, NCGA