Farmers to get cash for corncobs

ArgusLeader.com (South Dakota)

Goal is to spur cellulosic ethanol
STEVE YOUNG • syoung@argusleader.com • June 16, 2009

Producers in South Dakota soon will be able to get payments for corncobs and switchgrass they collect, harvest, store and transport for cellulosic ethanol production, though at least one environmental group still questions the idea's wisdom.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been taking public comments and now will start writing administrative rules for producers to apply for the payments.

He hopes those payments can begin "in the next few months" under the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which he wrote and was included in the 2008 farm bill.

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