Now that RVP season has passed, ethanol promotion events are popping up this fall, and those driving by are certainly taking notice. Nearly 7,000 gallons of ethanol-blended fuel has been sold over nine events spanning Minnesota in late summer and fall.
Promotion prior to each event featured postcards delivered to flex fuel car owners’ homes, social media posts and even local media were on board to drive people to the pump. Once at the stations,
Read more >
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its outlook for 2017 U.S. corn, with September production and yield estimates up slightly from August. Just after the report was released, corn futures declined.
While demand for corn has struggled to keep up with record-breaking yields, international market share for U.S.-grown corn has decreased with additional countries entering the market. These factors and more have led to struggling corn prices and tight margins for Minnesota farm operations.
Read more >
As some may have noticed in their mailbox earlier this month, Minnesota Corn’s Research Summary 2017 has been released! We invite you to read this year’s summary and see Minnesota corn check-off dollars at work funding research that improves agricultural practices and creates new opportunities for corn farmers.
Minnesota Corn Growers Association and the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council directs more than $4 million annually to independent research projects that promote the environmental and economic sustainability of farmers.
Read more >
In the early days of fuel consulting company MEG Corp, founder Hoon Ge would walk into car dealerships offering ethanol education sessions to the dealer’s technicians. Thinking they would be interested in learning more about the clean, green biofuel, the reception was certainly a surprise to Ge.
“We would really get the cold shoulder,” said Ge, who is a chemical engineer and 25-year veteran of the petroleum industry. “So we had the idea of instead going to the mechanics who are still learning and dispel the myths around ethanol,
Read more >
As part of the Renewable Fuel Standard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released proposed 2018 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) yesterday, calling for maintaining the same level of conventional biofuels as 2017.
The minimum amount of renewable fuels that must be supplied to the market in 2018 was 19.24 billion gallons. Conventional biofuels will remain at 15 billion gallons of that total next year. Advanced and cellulosic biofuels, often made from dried distillers grains (DDGS) and corn residue,
Read more >
For World Trade Month, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association spoke with U.S. Grains Council (USGC) President and CEO Tom Sleight on the latest from our nation’s capital and what to expect in what will be a crucial year for the corn export market.
Shortly before the calendar switched over to May, a report came from the White House that wasn’t necessarily in the spirit of the trade appreciation month, as President Donald Trump publicly considered withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico.
Read more >
Biofuels have long been a focus for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA). Investing nearly $23 million since 2008, here are a few highlights of how MCGA has worked to advance and expand the use of ethanol.
ETHANOL/EMISSIONS RESEARCH:
Over the last three years MCGA has worked with the consulting firm DeFour Group to move mid-level blends, specifically E25, into the marketplace. The multi-faceted approach included engine testing through the National Corn Growers Association,
Read more > Written by Nicole Krumrie
Jon Hunter was recently named Director of Clean Air with the American Lung Association in Minnesota (ALAMN). But Hunter is no stranger to the ethanol or its clean air benefits; he’s has been working with ALA since 2010 on grant programs.
“I’m looking forward to seeing markets expand and how we can promote ethanol,” says Hunter. “It will be an interesting year to see how the markets and the ethanol world respond to change.”
This past year,
Read more > Written by Jonathan Eisenthal
In another sign that the renewable fuels industry in Minnesota is as strong as ever, Al-Corn Clean Fuel has broken ground on an expansion that will take it from its current capacity of 50 million gallons a year, up to 120 million gallons per year.
“We have been planning this for quite a while. It’s very exciting seeing all the earth moving equipment,
Read more >
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) announced today its intentions to implement an ambitious set of initiatives with the goal of making Minnesota corn farmers the most sustainable and environmentally responsible in the United States.
In making the announcement, MCGA President Harold Wolle said: “This is a grassroots, farmer-driven effort that addresses values shared by both farmers and non-farmers. It’s a lofty goal. But we believe the approximately 25,000 corn farmers MCGA represents are already making great strides in achieving it.
Read more >