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Ethanol benefiting farmers
Published Thursday, April 3, 2008
Photo by Zak Holtan
Neal Schmidt unloads corn at the ethanol plant northwest of Fergus Falls. Schmidt is a hauler for Harvest States of Callaway, north of Detroit Lakes.
The ethanol plant owned by Otter Tail Ag Enterprises will use about 19.5 million bushels of corn a year, good news to farm growers in Otter Tail County. An economic impact of close to $110 million annually is expected, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.
Located northwest of Fergus Falls, the ethanol plant is permitted to produce up to 65 million gallons of ethanol a year. In the start-up stages, however, production is expected to be 55 million gallons a year, according to Otter Tail Ag CEO Kelly Longtin.
“For many county farmers, all of their corn this year will end up at our ethanol plant,” Longtin said. “Some haul the corn directly to the ethanol plant itself while others haul corn to Harvest States along Highway 210 west of Fergus Falls.”
On April 1 the corn price quoted by Otter Tail Ag Enterprises (ethanol plant) was $5.59 per bushel and the Harvest States quote was $5.50 per bushel. Harvest States is the procurement agent for Otter Tail Ag Enterprises.
“Minnesota didn’t get its reputation as a leader in the ethanol industry by accident. It took years of hard work by highly motivated people who believe in the renewable fuel and its benefits,” said Kris Bevill, an Ethanol Producer Magazine writer.
Wendy Fernstrum, who authored a book about Minnesota ethanol, is convinced that Minnesota’s ethanol industry is here to stay.
“Farmers cannot make a living just by growing commodities,” she said. “They need value-added opportunities and ethanol plants are a great way to do that. The fact that these farmer-owned plants are bringing in almost $5 billion to the state’s economy is important. What other grassroots industry contributes that kind of money to a state?”
Tim Enderson, who raises Black Angus cattle on his farm southeast of Fergus Falls, is among those who appreciate the opportunity to supplement their cattle feed with an ethanol corn byproduct. Enderson and others plan to obtain the byproduct from the Fergus Falls ethanol plant.
Despite a projected slight decrease from last year, Minnesota corn acreage is expected to remain at historically high levels. The corn price outlook remains strong due in part to the continued expansion in ethanol production such as at the plant northwest of Fergus Falls.
Corn farmers in the 10 major corn producing States (Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) intend to plant 66.6 million acres in 2008.
Along with the production guarantee of 55 million gallons of ethanol per year, Otter Tail Ag Enterprises also will market dried distillers grain and wet distillers grain.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by antiquesforsale (anonymous) on April 3, 2008 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
While I applaud the fact that farmers are getting more money for their efforts - what about the claims from many experts that ethanol uses more resources to produce than other sources of fuel?
Growing corn to feed to the ethanol plants reduces the amount used to feed people doesn't it? Because of this fact and other things happening in the world, food prices have skyrocketed in the past few months.
I wish there was an easy answer to the fuel/food dilema - but I think we need to at least ask the question.
Posted by frankenfurter (anonymous) on April 3, 2008 at 5:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You forgot to mention what truly helps our farmers: the billions in ethanol corn subsidies thanks to our national/local government (tax dollars).
The American government is driving the whole process and producing artificial markets for the products, otherwise the ethanol industry wouldn't be able to sustain itself. Can someone say ADM and CARGILL lobbies?
I recommend that the fine journalists at the Daily Journal take a more fair and balanced look at the ethanol debate, instead of writing a plethora of one-sided articles on such a hotly debated industry addled with disinformation.
Remember, there are a lot of people who believe _everything_ they read in the newspaper and watch on television. And then there are those who look at both sides of the coin.
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/01/...
Posted by toad3 (anonymous) on April 3, 2008 at 8:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
With the high corn,wheat and bean prices and federal subsidies the farmers should have a pretty good year.
Posted by 89Heritage (anonymous) on April 4, 2008 at 6:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ethanol plants are nothing more than another farm subsidies that we tax payers pay for in the end. More demands for corn to feed these plants means higher corn prices witch carries over into the food market. Higher prices at the grocery stores. Ethanol has very little benefits. It takes a gallon of fossil fuels to produce a little over a gallon of ethanol. Ethanol does not have the energy of fossils fuels, there for, less gas mileage. I heard someone say there old car back in the 60's 70's got as good of mileage as his new car. Its because of the gas quality. Yes, they have the technology for more fuel efficient vehicle's. Ethanol does burn slightly cleaner, But according to scientist, We would have to stop all carbon monoxide emissions right now, to possibly save the ozone in 100 or more years. Does anyone see that happening anytime soon ?
Posted by frankenfurter (anonymous) on April 4, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's another good article on the ethanol subject from St.Cloud:
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...
Posted by Newshound (anonymous) on April 4, 2008 at 7:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Enjoy it while you can folks, 'cause when this little baby blows up the fall-out is going to hurt a lot of people; farmers perhaps least of all, but every small town banker and business owner; gas staion and co-op is going to get burned in this fiasco.
The only long term winner will be ADM, Cargill and their breteren and a few politicians.
And the inflated priceds for foodstuffs will NOT go down after the bust.
Oh-one other thing: check out what is happening in the forests of Brazil in just the past YEAR! Unbelievale wholesale destruction of old growth forsts to make way for......you guessed it: corn!!
Don't say I didn't try to warn you guys. Ha!
Posted by byteme (anonymous) on April 4, 2008 at 9:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The one thing this article does not mention is what good is this enthanol plant to this community? If the price of corn ($5.50) and natural gas ($9.00-10.00) does not go down within a couple years the ethanol plant will close without EVER making a profit even with all the federal subsidies. And all those that "invested" money in it will wind up with NOTHING and that is suppose to be a boom to our local economy.
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