Ethanol trade delegation visits MN
Above: Ellyn Oelfke, her husband, Jacob, and their brother-in-law, Ben Flygare (far left), give a tour of their family farm to a Latin American ethanol trade delegation.
Written by Emily Burns
The U.S. Grains Council hosted an ethanol-related trip to Minnesota with several participants of the Global Ethanol Summit this past week. Members of the team included stakeholders from Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, and Uruguay. While in Minnesota, the team toured the family farm of Minnesota Corn Growers Association board member Ellyn Oelfke, Heartland Corn Products in Winthrop and a Minnoco Fuel Station in St Paul. Additionally, the group met with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Bio-fuels Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, and MEG Corp.
During the tour of Oelfke’s farm, the team learned about the process of corn farming and how a combine operates and harvests the crop. They were interested in learning about corn prices, the cost of production, research available to farmers, and weather patterns affecting the growing season.
The team also visited Heartland Corn Products, a farmer-owned cooperative ethanol plant. Heartland currently grinds corn at a rate of 47 million bushels per year to produce over 140 million gallons of ethanol. They were given a tour of the plant and learned about the process of turning corn into ethanol.
The U.S. Grains Council included the countries of Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, and Uruguay on the tour because several of these countries do not currently have an ethanol blending mandate. Freddy Villao, a regional ethanol consultant for the U.S Grains Council, believes that gaining knowledge of ethanol is the first step in moving toward a mandate. Villao added that the incentive for Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, and Uruguay to incorporate an ethanol mandate is to reduce their carbon footprint and assist their economies with the price of fuel.
The stakeholders from Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, and Uruguay gained knowledge of how corn is grown and the process of turning it into ethanol. They will take what they’ve learned back to their countries in hopes of spreading awareness of ethanol.
Minnesota Corn is proud to support the U.S. Grains Council as part of its mission to develop international markets for corn, ethanol, and ethanol coproducts. Learn more about the council at grains.org.
