National Corn Growers Launch Ethanol Video Contest

Hoosier Ag Today
Posted on 08 May 2012 by Andy Eubank

The National Corn Growers Association is taking a page out of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Fuel the Future video competition to launch their own video contest called Ethanol Rocks. NCGA is looking for video entries that promote the advantages ethanol brings to American consumers during a year when those consumers will begin to see a 15 percent blend of the fuel at the pump.


Chad Willis, chairman of NCGA’s Ethanol Committee told HAT the contest should be a good way to engage the nation’s youth in the discussion about ethanol’s benefits.

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U.S. corn growers say higher yields to boost ethanol

Reuters Africa
By Hugh Bronstein
Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:02pm GM

* Corn growers group projects huge yield gains by 2030
* Says corn use for ethanol to plateau, then increase

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States is headed for a corn output boom over the years ahead that will increase supplies available for ethanol production, the head of an industry chamber said on Thursday.

The robust growth of the ethanol sector in recent years has altered the structure of the U.S. corn market and ethanol producers now consume about 40 percent of the crop, sparking criticism that food supplies are at risk.

National Corn Growers Association Chief Executive Rick Tolman said corn use in ethanol will eventually rise from current 5.0 billion bushel although "there will be a plateau for a time."

"We've had reduced (corn) production in the last two years, but as we are able to increase production and work on new technology, I think it will continue to grow," he told reporters in Buenos Aires during a tour of Southern Cone farm areas.

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New study reveals higher octane in ethanol

Southeast Farm Press
From the National Corn Growers Association
Jan. 18, 2012 2:09pm

The study, which evaluated various fuel blends along a long range of knock limit operation, found additional benefits of ethanol’s favorable octane sensitivity in that it offers twice the octane potential expected.

As auto makers retool engines to maximize gas mileage while minimizing emissions to meet future Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards, a new study reveals that ethanol provides the higher-octane these high-efficiency engines require while remaining both affordable and environmentally friendly.

The study, conducted by AVL, a global leader in the development of powertrain engines with internal combustion systems, was funded in part by the National Corn Growers Association’s Ethanol Committee and Research and Business Development Action Team. The goal of this research was to explore the role corn ethanol could play in meeting the new CAFÉ standards enacted by the U.S. federal government.

“The findings of this study further support our existing understanding of ethanol in that they demonstrate its inherent ability to meet our nation’s need for an affordable, sustainable domestically-produced fuel source,” said NCGA Ethanol Committee Chairman Chad Willis.

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NCGA Changes Key Policies

KFGO
3/8/2011

TAMPA, Fla. (DTN) -- Delegates to the National Corn Growers Association's Corn Congress voted Saturday to support retooling the ethanol blenders' credit and also to investigate transitioning farm programs away from direct payments.

NCGA, the American Soybean Association and National Association of Wheat Growers each wrapped up policy meetings at the Commodity Classic Saturday, but NCGA's debate drew the most attention as delegates had been working since Wednesday to craft language on the group's ethanol policy and direct payments.

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U.S. Farmers and Ethanol Industry Reps. Call on EPA to Approve E12 in Gas

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: July 26, 2010

Washington—Three major farmer and ethanol groups called July 26 on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson to formally approve the use of E12 (12% ethanol) in the nation’s gasoline supply.

The groups – American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) – in a formal letter to the EPA Administrator wrote, “based on the EPA’s delay in acting upon the full E15 waiver and on our concerns that the Agency will restrict the use of E15 to cars made in 2001 and thereafter, we encourage the EPA to formally approve the use of E12 for all motor vehicles as an immediate interim step pending any ongoing additional testing on E15.”

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Message exchanges reveal tensions among ethanol groups

AgWeek
Jerry Hagstrom, Agweek
Published: 10/19/2009

WASHINGTON — A nasty exchange of messages among the National Corn Growers Association, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, the ethanol lobbying group headed by South Dakota-based ethanol plant builder and owner Jeff Broin and former Gen. Wesley Clark, has led to splits among the groups and revelations about why Broin and a handful of other ethanol leaders left RFA to form Growth Energy.

The messages have revealed that Broin and others established Growth Energy in 2008 because they did not think the NCGA and the RFA were lobbying hard enough for ethanol. Broin, Clark and Tom Buis, their Washington lobbyist, also are making the case that they have defended the industry and are pursuing its goals more vigorously than the other groups in the last two years.

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DF Cast: Mixing Ethanol and (Bio) Diesel

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by John Davis – October 16th, 2009

You can’t burn ethanol in a diesel engine. Nope. Just not done. Like mixing oil and water.

But what if you added more water to the ethanol? And came up with a way to mix the hydrated-ethanol blend with the diesel… or better yet, biodiesel… right at the point of ignition? Ahhh… then you’d have something that National Corn Growers Association chairman and Nebraska corn farmer Bob Dickey calls the CleanFlex Power System… a new venture he has formed with Ron Preston, president of CleanFlex. Together, they hope to get the 60 million diesel engines in the U.S. to burn some ethanol as well.

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Examiner Bio Corn: feed, food, booze or fuel?

examiner.com (Chicago)
October 13, 4:26 PM James McConnell

Widening splits among the three major lobbying groups in the ethanol industry seem to be torpedoing a unified front regarding the treatment of ethanol as a fuel in pending climate change legislation in Congress. Growth energy, an ethanol lobby formed last year by ethanol plant builder Jeff Broin and retired General Wesley Clark, believes the National Corn Growers Association and Renewable Fuels, the third big ethanol lobby, are soft on ethanol fuel development because RFA is dominated by Archer Daniels Midland, a major livestock feed processor.

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New projections point to massive biofuel supply/demand imbalances by 2015-2030; polyculture a way forward for sustainable production?

Biofuels Digest
October 02, 2009 Jim Lane

Three different visions of the future of global and US biofuels production were presented by researchers at Hart Energy, a team including Michigan Technological University and The Nature Conservancy, and the National Corn Growers Association.

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Study finds RFS2 will result high compliance costs for producers

Ethanol Producer Magazine October 2009
By Erin Voegele
Report posted Sept. 24, 2009, at 5:55 p.m. CST

A new study recently commissioned by the National Corn Growers Association found that the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule for the second stage of the renewable fuel standard (RFS2) is likely to result in high-up front and recurring compliance costs for ethanol producers. The study, titled “Compliance Costs Associated with the Proposed Rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard,” was completed by Informa Economics.

In May the EPA released its proposed rule for the RFS2, which lays out the agency’s strategy for achieving the renewable fuel mandates and compliance standards established by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). EISA ultimately requires the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022.

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Ethanol regulations would bring higher costs

Feedstuffs
(9/22/2009)

A study commissioned by the National Corn Growers Association tallies the high cost of proposed regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard. The study found that the up-front cost to the ethanol industry for compliance with the new regulations could reach $30 million, with annually recurring compliance costs reaching up to $420 million.

Higher costs for ethanol producers mean increased costs for corn growers, said Steve Ruh, chairman of NCGA's Ethanol Committee.

"Paperwork has a price," Ruh said. "At a time of economic recession, the last thing any industry needs are new regulations – especially unneeded recurring reporting requirements – that can cost up to a half-billion dollars a year."

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Don’t Miss the Corn Ethanol Land Use Conference

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Joanna Schroeder – July 15th, 2009

It’s not too late to get your early bird discount when you register by August 4th for the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Ethanol Land Use Conference. This two-day event will be held in St. Louis on August 25-26 and will discuss the land use and climate impacts of corn ethanol.

Registrants can participate in a myriad of topical sessions including land use change, nitrous oxide, new technologies and their effect on greenhouse gas emissions, domestic and international yields, satellite data and land conversion greenhouse gas emission factors, defining renewable biomass, and distillers grains.

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NCGA Paper Summarizes Ethanol Regulatory Actions

Corn & Soybean Digest
May 12, 2009 10:41 AM, Source: National Corn Growers Association

A new white paper from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) provides a clear and concise summary of recent regulatory action related to corn ethanol. Two are at the federal level, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and one was a recent action by the state of California’s Air Resources Board. This is part of an effort to ensure growers and others are aware of recent events, what NCGA’s position is and what action should be taken in support the growers’ interests and the interests of the ethanol industry.

“With so much going on at such a busy time for our growers, information such as this is important for keeping them informed and engaged,” says Steve Ruh, chairman of NCGA’s ethanol committee and a grower from Sugar Grove, IL. “Our growers are in the midst of a hectic planting season, but they need to know that they will have a secure and stable market come harvest time.”

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NCGA Establishes Farmer-Led Climate Change Task Force

CattleNetwork.com

3/26/2009 10:35:00 AM

March 26: The National Corn Growers Association’s Ethanol Committee has established a task force of corn farmers to focus on climate issues, such as land use change, greenhouse gas emissions, cap-and-trade policies, carbon sequestration and low carbon fuel standards.

“There is a wealth of information and research on climate change that we need to gather and communicate to our members and policymakers,” said Steve Ruh, chairman of the task force and a farmer from Sugar Grove, Ill. “We also know there is a need for more research to fill the gaps for policy and legislative initiatives that will help us maintain economic and environmental sustainability.”

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U.S. corn group pursues more ethanol incentives

Reuters
Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:44pm GMT
By Karl Plume

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS (Reuters) - A major U.S. corn producer group says it will continue to pursue incentives to expand ethanol production despite criticism from ailing meat and dairy producers that the corn-based biofuel is to blame for their current economic woes.

The National Corn Growers Association said corn farmers will need all the demand outlets available to them as they face a difficult year ahead due to high production costs and depressed grain prices.

"We are supportive on higher blend rates based on sound science, provided the EPA goes along with it. We will support that, anything above the 10 percent," said NCGA president Bob Dickey, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's limit for the maximum amount of ethanol currently blended into the U.S. fuel supply.

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Corn Growers, Others Outraged Over Massive Disinformation Campaign

National Corn Growers Association
(5-15-08)

Grower leaders from the National Corn Growers Association joined members of Congress and others Thursday to express extreme disappointment in the revelation that many of the highest profile U.S. food companies may have supported a high-dollar dollar public relations campaign to smear farmers and ethanol fuel rather than acknowledge the truth about the direct link of rising food prices to the cost of foreign oil.

According to reports in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, their staff members obtained confidential documentation of the effort.

“Rising food and fuel prices have led the biofuels industry to take a beating on Capitol Hill the past few weeks, the Wednesday Roll Call article stated. “But the pummeling hasn’t been by chance — it’s part of a concerted effort spearheaded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Glover Park Group. GMA has been leading an ‘aggressive’ public relations campaign for the past two months in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year’s energy bill.

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Farmers defend ethanol in Washington

CNN Politics.com
April 30, 2008 -- Updated 0241 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Farmers and ethanol producers defended their good fortune Wednesday in the nation's capital, where more lawmakers are blaming a corn-for-fuel policy for soaring food prices.

Farmers and ethanol executives told reporters that the biofuel industry is not the culprit behind skyrocketing corn and wheat prices that have set off riots abroad and grocery sticker shock in America.

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