In 2022, a University of Wisconsin study claimed that U.S. farmers had converted several million acres of pristine grassland and other “semi-natural areas” to cropland. Researcher Tyler Lark said that was in response to the Renewable Fuel Standard and ethanol production. Two years later, another study by Lark shows a different result. Using satellite imagery from the 2022 study, the …
University Analysis: EPA’s Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion in Losses
A recent analysis by economists at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) shows that the U.S. ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and nearly $20 billion in sales revenue over the next six years if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its current practice of exempting dozens of small refiners from …
Ethanol Report on 2017 Production
Ethanol production averaged over a million barrels per day for 44 out of 52 weeks in 2017, which means another record year for the industry. And despite a very average growing season, corn yield for 2017 is estimated at a record high 176.6 bushels per acre, and production was only down four percent because farmers planted less acres. AgWired’s Cindy …
U.S. Ethanol Production Near Capacity but Constraints Limit Growth
As demand for ethanol has increased, the number of ethanol plants in the U.S. has quadrupled since 1999. A USDA report says the growth in the number of ethanol plants has been driven by the Renewable Fuels Standard, which was first enacted in 2005. The initial increase in plant numbers after 2005 led to some plants not producing at their …
EPA Releases ‘18 Ethanol Volumes at Maximum levels; Chicken Producers Cry Foul
Agency keeps pumping corn ethanol into a saturated fuel market The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is mandating the statutory maximum 15 billion gallons of ethanol be added to the domestic fuel supply in 2018, the second consecutive year EPA has mandated the maximum amount of ethanol allowed under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The currently mandated …
RFA Asking EPA to Expand Hurricane Harvey Fuel Waiver
The ethanol industry claims it can fill the shortage in the nation’s fuel supply in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas, and impact on the nation’s oil refining capacity The Renewable Fuels Association is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to expand a fuel waiver the agency granted in response to Hurricane Harvey, which has now shut down about …
Ethanol Production May Outpace Demand in Future
A new report from Cobank says the ethanol industry could soon face declining slim-to-negative profit margins. The report is titled “Ethanol’s Growth Path: Output and Export Uncertainties Both Rising.” It outlines how an ethanol market fueled by corn prices at multi-year lows, together with reinvestment into expanding production capacity, will push supplies past demand growth. A Cobank senior economist says …
Ag Groups React to RFS Volumes for 2018
Some advanced biofuels were cut when the Environmental Protection Agency released its proposed renewable fuels volumes for 2018. The American Soybean Association wasn’t pleased with the lack of growth proposed by the EPA in biomass-based diesel volumes as well as a reduction in advanced biofuels. A.S.A. President and Illinois farmer Ron Moore called it disappointing and a missed opportunity for …
Corn Prices May Not Improve, Even with Less Production
As farmers plant fewer acres to corn, will smaller supplies bring on better prices? This story from Gary Crawford answers that question. Seth Meyer, USDA Outlook Board Chairman, gives reasons for the USDA forecast for a 50 million bushel increase in the use of corn for ethanol in the coming marketing year…new projection, 5.5 million bushels. …