From Bourbon to Ethanol: Distillers Grains Symposium Held in Twin Cities

Dr. Doug Haefele of DuPont Pioneer discusses the composition of distillers grains and the impact of the historic drought and heat in 2012.

In 1998, one million metric tons of distillers grains were produced in the United States. Thanks to corn ethanol, about 40 million tons are produced today.

“Back then, we had debate about what to do with all those distillers grains. We thought there’d be too much because of ethanol,” said Charlie Staff, executive director and CEO of the Distillers Grains and Technology Council. “Turned out, that wasn’t a problem.”

Not only has the amount of distillers grains produced increased, they’re also worth five times what they were in 1998.

Distillers grains are a high quality, high energy and highly digestible feed stock that provides excellent nutritional value at a reduced cost for beef, dairy, poultry and swine.

Most ethanol plants in the United States use starch from corn to produce ethanol. The remainder of the corn kernel is used to produce a variety of wet and dried distillers grains. In dry-grind ethanol production, each bushel of corn produces about 11.8 liters of ethanol and 7.7 kg of distillers grains.

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) was one of the sponsors for this year’s Distillers Grains Symposium, held May 15-16 in the Twin Cities. The symposium featured speakers and presentations related to the impact of last year’s drought on corn kernel composition, weather models and their estimated impact on future corn yields and prices, the corn oil market, exporting issues and managing risk in today’s farming landscape.

Distillers grains started with the bourbon industry and grew as the use of corn ethanol expanded. About 98 percent of distillers grains in North America comes from ethanol plants. The other 2 percent comes from the alcohol beverage industry.

About 80 percent of the distillers grains in North America are fed to dairy and beef cattle. The other 20 percent goes to swine and poultry. The United States exports more than 10 million tons of distillers grains to over 50 counties annually.

“Some distillers grains production has slowed recently because ethanol production is over capacity,” Staff said. “People are using less gasoline.”

Ethanol production wasn’t the only issue listed by Staff. Other issues distillers grains face in the future include:

Domestic promotion. Distiller’s grains are currently promoted more internationally than domestically.
Government regulations. More are coming that will likely impact distillers grains.
Corn oil removal. Some ethanol plants remove more oil from a kernel of corn than others.
Corn production and pricing. A consistent and quality corn crop is necessary for a strong distillers grains market.

The Distillers Grains and Technology Council has been around since 1945 and has held a symposium every year. Over 250 people attended this year’s symposium.

Minnesota Corn Update and Corn Matters for the Week of May 13, 2013

This week’s Minnesota Corn Update and Corn Matters features Jeff Harrison from Combest-Sell & Associates providing an update on the farm bill.

The Senate and House agriculture committees passed separate versions of a farm bill on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, of this week. The full Senate is expected to take up its version of the bill next week. The House has not set a timetable.

Harrison said a lot of the debate about the farm bill concerns cuts to food stamps.

“Very, very strong crop insurance insurance title, and what I believe is a very strong commodity title,” he said.

Harrison also said that a lot will be worked out in conference committee and that now is the time to contact your congressman and senator and let him or her know about the importance of passing a strong farm bill.

Combest-Sell & Associates represents the Minnesota Corn Growers Association on legislative issues in Washington, DC.

USDA Corn Reports: Record Harvests Predicted, Minnesota Behind Schedule in Planting

National corn planting completion dates since 1977.

Planting might be behind schedule here in Minnesota and throughout the country, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting a record corn harvest in the United States this fall.

On Friday, the USDA released a report predicting that this fall’s corn harvest would reach 14.1 billion bushels. That would be a 31 percent increase over last year’s drought-stricken crop and break the record of 13.1 billion bushels set in 2009.

The report also predicted decreased yields compared to an earlier projection — 158 bushels per acre, a 5.6 bushel decrease from a projection made in February — but that’s offset by increased planted acres.

Last week we caught up with Doug Albin and Lori Feltis, corn and soybean farmers in Yellow Medicine and Olmsted County, respectively, to see where they were at with planting.

Like most farmers in Minnesota, both were behind schedule because of the cold and wet spring, but managed to get at least a little time in the field before getting rained out.

According to another USDA report, Minnesota farmers were able to make “significant planting progress” for the week ending May 12 even though temperatures remained below normal.However, corn planting is still well behind last year’s pace and the five-year average.

USDA estimates that 18 percent of Minnesota corn has been planted. At this time last year, 86 percent of Minnesota’s corn was in the ground. The five-year average for this time is 68 percent.

In an 18-state area that planted 92 percent of the United States’ corn last year, 28 percent of the crop is planted compared to 85 percent at this point in 2012 and the 65 percent five-year average.

While it’s important to get the crop planted in timely manner, the planting date alone isn’t a good indicator of overall production. What happens after the corn is in the ground — whenever that may be — will play a major role in determining the success of this year’s harvest.

The 2009 corn crop was one of the latest planted in the last 15 years, but it set an all-time yield record.

Minnesota Corn Planting Update: Lori Feltis, Stewartville, Olmsted County

This is a photo of a corn seed planted in late April on the farm of Lori Feltis, before 14 inches of snow fell in her area. The photo was taken on May 6.

Corn planting is underway at Feltis Farms in Stewartville, Minn., about 12 miles south of Rochester in Olmsted County.

Lori Feltis said she started planting on Saturday, April 27. Then 14 inches of snow came and went, making an already wet and cold spring even more cold and wet.

Ground temperatures stayed above freezing, though, and the crop looks to be holding up. The photo on the right is a seed that was dug up on May 6.

“Both the coleoptile and radicle look great,” Lori said.

Lori said she had about 30 percent of her corn crop planted as of Thursday afternoon and estimated that about 2 percent of the corn in her area was in the ground. She planted all day on Wednesday, but got rained out at 7:10 p.m. and doesn’t think she’ll be back in the field for another four or five days.

Soil temperatures on her farm were 68.2 degrees Fahrenheit on April 27 before dipping to 35.1 degrees on May 3. Soil temps were 71.6 and 58.4 degrees on May 6 and 9, respectively.

“Compared to the last five years, I would consider this a delayed planting season for me,” said Feltis, who has practiced no-till farming for almost 25 years and also plants soybeans. “Last year, I planted on March 28 and we’re typically in the fields planting between April 15-21. Last year was an exception year that I may never see again in my farming career.”

Minnesota Corn Update and Corn Matters for the Week of May 6, 2013

This week’s Minnesota Corn Update and Corn Matters ag radio interview featured Charlie Staff, Executive Director of the Distillers Grains Technology Council.

Charlie highlighted the 17th annual Distillers Grains Symposium, set for May 15-16 in Bloomington, Minn. The symposium is sponsored by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and features presentations from professors at Auburn University, Iowa State University, the University of Minnesota, DuPont Pioneer, the U.S. Grains Council and several other academic institutions and private businesses and organizations.

Minnesota Corn Planting Update: Doug Albin, Clarkfield, Yellow Medicine County

Doug Albin farms in Clarkfield, Minn., and is a member of the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council.

Like a lot of farmers in Minnesota, Doug Albin is itching to get his corn planted. It looks like his wait will be over soon, but it’s been a much longer wait than he would have liked.

“It’s kind of like the spring from hell,” Albin said, who farms in Clarkfield, Minn., which is located in Yellow Medicine County, about 25 miles north of Marshall. “It’s been too cold and we haven’t had enough sunlight.”

Albin doesn’t have any of his own corn planted yet, but thinks he might be able to get out in the field on Monday. He would have been planting already, but 0.6 inches of rain over the last couple of days set him back.

“I got about 100 acres of corn in for my neighbor before we got rained out,” he said.

According to the USDA, Minnesota corn farmers have 2 percent of their crop planted this spring, almost 50 percent behind the five-year average.

Farmers in Albin’s area still managed to have a successful corn and soybean crop last year despite receiving just 13.08 inches of rain during growing season (May-September), the county’s second-lowest total since 1998.

It was the second year in a row that the soil went into winter without an adequate amount of moisture.

“All the rain and snow we’ve gotten this spring has saturated the top foot of soil, but underneath that it’s still real dry,” Albin said.

Albin estimates that maybe 5-10 percent of the area’s corn has already been planted.

The weekend forecast calls for sunshine with temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees. The prediction for Monday is sunshine with a high of 79 degrees.

If that forecast turns out to be accurate, Albin’s wait should be over soon.

Minnesota Beef Council Teams up with Minnesota Corn Growers at Grillfest

Come for the beef, go home with a recipe for corn ice cream.

The Minnesota Beef Council is sponsoring the second annual Minnesota Monthly Grillfest, set to take place from 1-5 p.m. on May 18-19 at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis. The event is expected to draw 4,500 grilling and food enthusiasts to sample the latest in grilled foods, summer wines and specialty beers.

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) is helping the Beef Council with its sponsorship, and will include a recipe card for corn ice cream in a reusable “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” bag that will be given to all attendees who come through the Grillfest gate.

Grillfest is a great way for MCGA to support May Beef Month and connect with consumers who enjoy grilling a tasty cut of corn-fed beef on a sunny spring afternoon in Minnesota. Corn provides cattle with a great source of digestible energy for growth, reproduction and other metabolic processes.

Can’t make it to Grillfest? John Schiltz, the owner and executive chef at the Lake Elmo Inn, was recently on WCCO TV to highlight beef and provide grill tips. You can check out the video below.

If you’re looking for some new ideas on how to grill your steak, burgers or other types of beef, be sure to check out the Minnesota Beef Council’s Pinterest page for unique recipes and new twists on some traditional favorites.

Finally, a coupon for $1 off any fresh beef product at Lund’s & Byerly’s will be available from May 16-29. The coupon’s tagline is “Brought to you by your local beef and corn farm families” and can be accessed via the Lund’s & Byerly’s mobile app when it becomes available.

Happy grilling!

An Ag Student’s View on Educating the Public About Farming, Food and Ethanol

Ag Awareness Day at the University of Minnesota was an opportunity to students at the St. Paul campus to learn about farming, food, and fuel.

By Kevin Welter

I grew up on a swine and crop farm three miles from the small town of Stewartville, Minnesota. There were several times during my childhood when I had wished I had grown up in town instead of the farm so I could hang out with friends at the pool on a warm summer day instead of hauling corn and soybeans to the grain elevator.

While in high school, I didn’t immediately see many of the benefits and lessons I learned from growing up in an agriculture background. As I finish up my sophomore year of college, I have noticed how blessed I really was to grow up involved in agriculture.

I would consider Stewartville a rural town. You can look out the front doors of the high school and see a corn and soybean field. In high school, I was a member of The National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Organization. I was able to volunteer at the CHS Miracle of Birth Center during the Minnesota State Fair for two years.

I would help take care of the animals and answer any questions that fairgoers had. I quickly realized that things that seemed like simple, everyday tasks to me were completely foreign to the general public.

There was a large knowledge difference between me and many of the fairgoers when it came to farming. This was something new to me as many of my fellow high school classmates that hadn’t grown up immersed in agriculture still had a good understanding of it.

As you may know, this past year I have represented Minnesota Corn Growers Association as an Agvocate. This position has given me many opportunities to share my agriculture knowledge with the public.

As I think about the events I have helped at, one stands out to me. This would be Ag Awareness Day at the University of Minnesota on the East Bank Campus in Minneapolis. We were playing corn plinko with students and faculty that walked along Church Street. The participants would drop a plinko chip in the game board and were then asked a question about corn, ethanol, or fun facts, depending on the space their chip landed in. If they got the answer correct, they won a wonderful MN Corn prize.

One student who played landed in the ethanol space. After answering his questions he asked if we could chat for a few minutes. He was curious about the use of corn for fuel instead of food.

We talked about it for a while as I informed him of the other byproducts you get from making ethanol. He didn’t know about distiller dried grains that can be feed to livestock and the CO₂ used in soft drinks. After informing him of other benefits of ethanol, he said his view on ethanol had changed.

The fact that a student at a school with a well-known College of Agriculture was misled about ethanol was surprising to me. At South Dakota State University, many of the students grow up on a farm or are only one generation removed from the farm. Or, if they didn’t grow up on a farm, many of their friends did.

The agriculture knowledge of the average student at SDSU is very high due to the rural nature of the college and the students who attend. Ag Awareness Day helped me realize there is a lot of educating that people in agriculture need to do to make sure the public understand how their food is grown and raised. Looking back on my childhood, I truly was blessed to grow up in a rural community involved in agriculture.

Minnesota Corn Matters and Corn Update for the Week of April 29, 2013

Curt Froyen talks about the Biofuels Mobile Education Center and combating misinformation about ethanol and renewable fuels in this week’s Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) radio spots.

Curt also highlights which Jam the Stands racing events sponsored by MCGA will feature an appearance by the Biofuels Mobile Education Center this summer.

Corn Matters and Corn Update air on the Red River Farm Network and Linder Farm Network, respectively. The weekly interviews are sponsored by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and provide insight into Minnesota farming, ethanol, renewable fuels, planting, conservation, value-added agriculture, and other topics related to agriculture and renewable energy.

Snowy April Doesn’t Worry This Corn Farmer…For Now

Thanks to April snow, Jerry Demmer hasn't been able to plant his corn yet.

Because of April snow, Jerry Demmer hasn’t been able to plant his corn yet.

It’s late April in Southern Minnesota and it’s snowing. Again.

For Jerry Demmer, a corn and soybean farmer in Clarks Grove, it’s another day that he’s not able to get in the field and get his 900 acres of corn planted.

“There’s only so much waxing on the tractor that you can do,” Jerry said. “There’s nothing you can change about the weather.”

Despite the later start and the seemingly never-ending snow, Jerry isn’t too worried yet. If the weather takes a turn for the worst after his corn is in the ground, then it might be time to worry.

“It all depends what happens after you plant,” Jerry said. “It depends what June, July and August are like. If it freezes on September 1, well, then we might be in some trouble.”

Last year Jerry started planting on April 11, but only got 2.2 inches of rain during the month and 12.6 inches the entire year. Nontheless, Jerry said last year’s crop was his best. Who knows what additional moisture this April (Jerry has had 4 inches so far) might mean for this year’s corn?

As long as he can plant by May 15, Jerry said he’s not worried about yields being impacted. In fact, the additional moisture being absorbed by the soil might actually be a good thing after last summer’s drought.

Until then, it’s more equipment maintenance, building upkeep and getting ready for when he finally can get into the field.

Clarks Grove, which is about 15 miles west of Albert Lea, got another inch of snow and slush and freezing temperatures on April 22.

That might have been the final blast of winter, however (cross your fingers). The forecast calls for temperatures near 70 by Saturday.

“Every year is different,” Jerry said. “Time will tell.”

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