How High Will Corn Prices Go Before Usage Is Rationed?

The national average corn yield was the main focus of cash and futures market traders in the Oct. 8, 2010, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Many market analysts consider this report a “game changer.” The resulting price rally in crop markets has people beginning to ask if this could be a repeat

Food Groups Sue U.S. For Ethanol Boost In Gasoline

Livestock producers and food industry groups filed a suit on Nov. 9 seeking to overturn a U.S. decision to allow higher levels of ethanol in gasoline, saying it could push up food prices. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Meat Association and other groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency, saying regulators overstepped their authority when


Vilsack Says E15 Decision Underscores U. S. Support

U. S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Oct. 13 the government’s decision to boost the amount of ethanol allowed in U. S. gasoline was a strong signal the Obama administration will establish a strong U. S. ethanol industry. “Today’s announcement on E15 for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and beyond is a positive signal that we

U. S. Ethanol Fortunes In Limbo As E15 Ruling Looms

The U. S. ethanol sector has been on the road to recovery since a calamitous 2008, but the once-soaring industry appears to have hit a plateau amid a glut of supply and a murky demand picture, analysts said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago. Producers are hoping that a government ruling expected


U. S. Ethanol Policy Frustrates Environmentalists

U. S. corn growers expressed relief when the Obama administration unveiled new environmental rules that would boost use of corn-based biofuel, but green groups complained the guidelines may fill the air with nitrogen, a greenhouse gas viewed as more potent than carbon. The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled what amounted to a tweaking of the national

U. S. Sees Ethanol Output Eventually Meeting Target

U. S. ethanol production could eventually top 14.5 billion gallons a year, up 16 per cent from output capacity at the beginning of 2009 and enough to blend 10 per cent of the fuel into every gallon of the nation’s gasoline, the U. S. government said Nov. 18. U. S. ethanol output capacity stood at


Water Worries Cloud Future For U. S. Biofuel

“We really have to ask ourselves, do we want to be driving with renewable fuels or with gasoline made from petroleum resources?” – BRENT ERICKSON, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT, BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION It’s corn-planting time in the U. S. Plains, and that means Kansas corn farmer Merl “Buck” Rexford is worrying about the weather – and hoping

Ethanol Mandate May Not Boost Corn

The Obama administration’s call March 10 for an increase in the amount of ethanol to be used in gasoline in the United States is a positive sign for corn growers but it probably will not boost seedings or corn prices this year. “It’s pretty good news for corn growers and will at least keep farmers


Trade Group Asks EPA For Higher Ethanol Blend Rate

An ethanol trade group submitted a formal request to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency March 6 to boost the allowed ethanol-to-gasoline blend rate as high as 15 per cent from the current cap of 10 per cent. The higher blend rate would create a bigger market for ethanol, spurring production of the alternative fuel

Diesel Price May Drop Below Gasoline

“Refiners are producing a lot more of this stuff.” TIM EVANS, CITI FUTURES PERSPECTIVE Diesel prices in many parts of the world should drop below gasoline this summer for the first time since mid-2007 as refinery projects lift output and slumping economies slash transport and manufacturing demand. The expected shift would restore the typical balance