The Coffee Shop

For so many reasons this year’s presidential election is important.  As corn producers we need to understand and incorporate the positions on issues for each of the two presidential candidates.

The task is made a bit easier by the National Corn Growers Association.  It has posted responses from Senators McCain and Obama on agriculture policy issues.  You can read their responses to major issues by clicking here. 

Post a response here if you would like.  We are all ears…yikes, that was a loser of a pun, wasn’t it?  

If you’re finding it difficult to provide ready answers when people blame farmers for the increase in food prices you’re not alone. Understanding the complex factors influencing food prices is quite difficult, but important.  Without a clear analysis farmers will again take the brunt of the blame, as unfair as that is.

Three agricultural economist wrote an excellent explanation of the cost increases.  They argue three points (1) more people on the planet who need to be fed; (2) rapid increase in energy costs which are integral into the cost of production of commoditiesand (3) the depreciation of the dollar.  Biofuels and a number of other factors play a role as well.

So when people blame farmers your response can be: More people means more food demand.  Higher oil prices mean higher costs of food production.

The authors reviewed 25 current reports and studies, and after considering the findings of that literature as they did their own analysis of the situation. The entire study, sponsored by the Farm Foundation, is available by clicking here.

Denver failed new air quality standards set the EPA for ozone.  The old federal ozone standard provided for 85 parts per million of ozone, and then the EPA made the rules tougher, setting the standard at 75 parts per million.  The Denver area average was 76 part per million and no longer complied.

What the heck is ozone anyway. Well, it’s air pollution (smog) that occurs when chemicals people put into the air react with each other.  The problem is addressed thee ways: (1) decrease the harmful chemicals; (2) decrease the reactive agent, nitrous oxide, know as NOX, or (3) slow the speed of the reaction.

Ground-level ozone should not be confused with natural ozone high in the atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone protects the earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Ground-level ozone is a summertime pollutant formed when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides mix and react in the presence of  sunlight. Ground-level ozone is a lung irritant. 

Motor vehicles, the smokestack industries and the oil and gas industry contribute to the release of chemicals but opening paint cans, running lawn mowers and a long list of other activities in our daily lives add to the chemicals we put into the air. 

Ethanol reduces one of the harmful chemical (carbon monoxide) but it burns hotter and speeds the reaction.  The result is fewer chemicals at a hight speed in heat of summer months. This is called a “volatility” problem.

Lowering ozone requires a determination of which factors are the most serious (chemicals, Nox or volatitlity) and who is the culprit.  The second question generates the old saw, “It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s the polluter behind the tree” as everyone tries to escape responsibility.

Recent air monitoring along the front range indicates there is a Nox problem.  In the new set of guidelines issued a few days ago by the Air Quality Control commission there are a significant number of initiatives, and fortunately the use of ethanol-blended fuels is not eliminated.  It is however on a “watch” list.

The Legislature and the governor must sign off on the plan before it goes to the EPA, so the fight to preserve ethanol is not yet over.

According to the latest ag statistics produced by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, corn is now the leading crop in Colorado.  The determination is based upon the value of the crop produced and the recent increase in corn price helped to boost our favorite crop to the number one position.

The top 10 Colorado crops are corn, wheat, hay,  potatoes, sugar beets, proso millet, grand and silage sorghum, and barley. 

Grainland Cooperative, the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition, and Colorado Corn are partnering to celebrate the opening of a new E85 pump location at 220 West Denver in Holyoke, Colorado, on August 20. 

E85 contains 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The ethanol portion is made from home-grown, renewable biomass that offers significant environmental benefits over the petroleum based alternative. Consumers who drive Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s) can use any combination of E85 and gasoline.

“We at Grainland are very happy to be able to offer E85 to our customers. This alternative fuel is just another step for us to do our part to help reduce dependence on foreign oil. It also shows our support of the ethanol industry which in turn supports a very integral part of our local economy,” says Harlan Stern, CEO of Grainland Cooperative.

With every new pump installation, more consumers have access to this renewable fuel. “Together, we are making a difference for Colorado’s air quality and for consumers who support renewable fuel. It is great to see a new E85 fueling site in rural Colorado.” says Mark Sponsler, CEO of Colorado Corn, a member of the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition.

Consumers who drive FFV’s will have an opportunity to fill up with E85, while enjoying some hot dogs and refreshments from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 20, in a promotional effort to highlight the availability of the fuel at Grainland Cooperative in Holyoke.

Join Colorado Corn, the GBC and Grainland Cooperative as they celebrate the opening of the new E85 pump.

From the New Fuels Alliance (August 20, 2008):

While the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) continues to spend millions on a public relations campaign blaming biofuels for food price increases, its member companies are taking advantage of consumers in the grocery aisle.

A recent analysis of the corporate profits of food giants like Kraft, Kellogg’s, Cargill, Sara Lee, and General Mills conducted by FoodPriceTruth.org reveals that all of these companies are making more money this year than they were in the same fiscal quarter of 2007. Recent earnings statements and press releases admit that higher profits are attributable largely to food price increases.

Just a few months ago, a GMA representative asked Congress to suspend federal biofuel rules because they were hurting the “poorest 20 percent of Americans.” The GMA representative went on to say that, “at a time when thousands of Americans are losing their homes and jobs, it makes no sense to artificially increase the price of food …”

We agree. If GMA is truly concerned about the plight of the poorest 20 percent of Americans and the world’s hungry, they should ask their member companies to stop taking advantage of them at the supermarket.
 

A Chevrolet Uplander flex-fuel vehicle customized for the U.S. Postal Service.

The USPS bought more than 30,000 flex-fuel trucks and minivans from 1999 to 2005, making it the largest purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles in the United States.  Unfortunately Bloomberg News chose to report a drop in mileage, ignored the significant improvement to the air quality and the forward step for energy independence.   Ethanol is winning the battle, slowly but with certainty.

Quoted below is a  Bloomberg.com article:

“The U.S. Postal Service purchased more than 30,000 ethanol-capable trucks and minivans from 1999 to 2005, making it the biggest American buyer of alternative-fuel vehicles. Gasoline consumption jumped by more than 1.5 million gallons as a result.The trucks, derived from Ford Motor Co.’s Explorer sport- utility vehicle, had bigger engines than Jeeps from the former Chrysler Corp. they replaced. A Postal Service study found the new vehicles got as much as 29 percent fewer miles to the gallon. Mail carriers used the corn-based fuel in just 1,000 of them because there weren’t enough places to buy it.

By Mark Sponsler
Executive Director
Colorado Corn Growers Association

We have an opportunity to participate in the first significant water storage project proposed in decades.  It is called the Northern Integrated Supply Project or NISP. 

The decision on this project will determine in part our ability to contribute to the economic growth and the advancement of our quality of life we will have in Northern Colorado.

Generations of Colorado farmers recognized an essential requirement for sustainable food stocks for our population was the management of water.  They not only recognized the need for water, they took action.  They built and paid for the water systems that served Colorado for more than 100 years.

And with this water supply farmers built Colorado agriculture into a major economic force that now provides over $17 billion in annual receipts.  It represents one of the largest economic engines powering the Colorado economy,

It is an engine that serves Colorado far beyond the farm gate, generating jobs for our economy from products inputs for the ground, to crop management to food processing and retailing.  And finally to the food on your plate every evening.

Water, of course, serves vital needs far beyond agriculture.  And already there is more demand than supply of this precious commodity.

Demographers estimate the population of Colorado will double by the year 2050.  Much of this growth will be on the Front Range. And the resource needed more than land will be water.

For more than a century, our water laws have guided us with a consistent theme.  Water is for the beneficial use of all the people of Colorado.  Whether one looks at the Colorado Constitution or the 1902 Reclamation Act, water belongs to - and is used for — the common welfare of all Coloradoans.

With demand outstripping supply, an implicit requirement of this doctrine is the prerequisite of cooperation among us all.

The Northern Integrated Supply Project is a magnificent example of just such cooperation.  It is a partnership among 15 communities and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.

Without this project, and others like it, we will see more competition rather than cooperation battling for land and water.  There will be winners and losers as we abandoned the beneficial use doctrine.  One will be irrigated farming, one of our major economic engines.

Rejecting this project is not an option.  It is the equivalent of driving toward a cliff, accelerating at each sign that reads “cliff ahead” until its too late, except for others to observe the wreckage below and ask why they didn’t see it coming.

Without the NISP project, there will be the loss of as many as 70,000 acres of Northern Colorado farmland.  And with it will go a chuck of the agricultural economy supporting Colorado businesses located far beyond the farm gate.

For every farm lost on average we lose two businesses on Main Street.  These are businesses that provide services on your Main Street and mine.  It’s not an exaggeration to say with the demise of multiple farms in an area entire communities can disappear.

More importantly we will lose essential suppliers to our new energy economy that requires plant matter in addition to for food, feed and fiber.

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District undertook a difficult assignment under challenging and complex circumstances.  They, along with their municipal partners, accomplished the extraordinary feat of first-rate planning for the beneficial use of our mutual resource for our mutual benefit. 

We owe them our gratitude and our support for a project that will add to our legacy and our future. 

Michael Crowley, NREL scientist

What is more green-geek cred than a computer model to demonstrate the molecule used to break down plants from which biofuels are made?

Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Labs Senior Scientist Michael Crowley recently took home second prize in the DOE’s Electronic Visualization competition for his animation of the “cellobiohydrolase Cel7A” molecule, an enzyme that decays plants. 

Crowley’s visual map will help researchers bioengineer a version of Cel7A that could be useful for cellulosic biofuel production.  In nature, Cel7A turns cellulose into simple sugars at a pace that’s fast enough for plants, but not quite fast enough for an industry.  The enzyme could deliver an efficient way to churn out biofuels from cellulosic materials.

Crowley’s research is being funded by the NREL.

Just when corn producers thought they had heard every objection to corn use, they now have one more “scare tactic” tossed in the mix.  The new attack comes from Rudi’s Organic Bakery, which represents itself as the the nation’s largest certified-organic bread brands.

It launched what it called, “a multi-faceted consumer education campaign designed to raise awareness of the presence of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in packaged sandwich bread.”

HFCS is a sweetener commonly found in processed foods and soft drinks.  Rudi’s attributes to anonymous sources that,  ”HFCS has been reported in health and nutrition studies to increase the risk of diabetes, cholesterol levels, and other adverse health conditions.”

Rudi’s bought a survey of 350 Colorado parents with children 12 years of age and younger. Survey results claim while a majority of parents, 60 percent, try to avoid HFCS in their family’s diet, only 23 percent are aware that packaged sandwich breads often contain HFCS.

What a lucrative market niche for Rudi’s to exploit!

The new campaign will help “educate” Colorado parents about this important issue by encouraging them to check ingredients labels for HFCS before purchasing dietary staples, including bread. The Rudi’s Organic campaign will include a consumer launch event, multi-media ad campaign, a series of family-oriented sampling events and more.

Doug Radi, vice president of marketing for Rudi’s Organic Bakery. “Rudi’s Organic will be arming parents with the information they need to identify products made without the use of HFCS or artificial ingredients. Based on Colorado parents’ concerns about HFCS, we are hoping to help them make more informed choices when purchasing staples, like bread and other baked goods.” 

What is so shameless is the company wrapping this phony issue into a sales promotion gimmick.

Rudi’s issued a press release on their “educational: campaign:  

The educational campaign will launch with a “Get Real Bread” event on Aug. 2 in partnership with KALC-FM Denver, Alice 105.9. During this event, Colorado moms and dads will be invited to trade in their conventional breads made with high fructose corn syrup and artificial ingredients for a free loaf of Rudi’s Organic Bread made with wholesome, organic ingredients and nothing artificial.

Other components of the campaign include clever, attention-grabbing print and television advertisements highlighting the presence of HFCS and artificial ingredients in most conventional, mass-produced packaged sandwich breads.

The advertisements will draw attention to the HFCS in conventional breads through the creation of “fictional” packaged breads named “Whole Grain High Fructose Corn Syrup & Oat” and “Prairie Azodicarbonamide White.”

Rudi’s Organic will give awaay bread at events throughout the summer at soccer fields, festivals, retail stores, farmers markets, and outdoor malls. And just in time for the new school year, Rudi’s Organic will participate in an organic lunch box tour with other organic companies to help teach parents how to pack healthy, HFCS-free lunch boxes.

Leave a message for Rudi’s Organic Bakery

Paint the State of Texas Yellow for Corn Ethanol.

The Environmental Protection Agency denied a request from Texas to temporarily reduce ethanol requirements for gasoline in hopes of bringing down corn prices.

A federal energy bill passed in December requires that 9 billion gallons of ethanol be blended into gasoline from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2009. Perry asked the EPA in April to drop the Renewable Fuels Standard requirement to 4.5 billion gallons, saying demand for ethanol is raising corn prices for livestock producers and driving up food prices.

The Colorado Corn Growers Association hailed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision today to deny a request to reduce the renewable fuels standard as growers prepare for the second-largest corn
harvest in history and consumers clamor for solutions to high gasoline prices.

“We’re very grateful but not surprised by the EPA’s decision, given the fact that projections are calling for another bountiful harvest,” said National Corn Growers President Ron Litterer, a corn grower in Iowa. “We hope that those who have been critical of corn ethanol because of its perceived connection to higher retail food prices will work with us to help achieve a diversified and comprehensive solution to high energy prices and our reliance on foreign oil.”

Based on reams of scientific, economic and industry data put before the agency, the EPA’s decision turned down a request by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to cut the renewable fuels standard in half for one year. Gov. Perry had cited ethanol’s affect on feed and food prices, despite a study by Texas A&M researchers that the requested waiver would have little impact.

Recently, the Texas A&M study was validated by economists at PurdueUniversity, who tied most of the recent spike in corn prices to higheroil prices, which had in turn caused the demand for ethanol and corn to jump.

“The higher energy costs, the higher everything else costs,” Litterer said. “Corn ethanol helps provide energy independence and keep energyprices down. It’s part of the solution to the real problem.”

This week, Litterer noted, three separate analyst reports predicted a corn crop of more than 12 billion bushels and a yield averaging more than 154 bushels per acre. On Aug. 12, the USDA will release a crop production report that will be the first official government projectionof production and yield based on actual crop estimates and will alsooffer a complete look at the ramifications of Midwest flooding earlierthis season. 

83 percent of national corn acres reached at silking this week, 12 points behind last year and 8 points behind the 5-year average.  Nearly one-fourth of the crop reached the silking stage during the week, with major development occurring in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  

Iowa’s corn development was well behind normal with 73 percent at silking, 20 points behind the 5-year average.  Development was delayed in all States except Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Boulder-based Eco Products will quadruple sales this year because petroleum prices increased drastically. The green movement has experienced a huge uptick and Democratic conventioneers will eat and drink out of its compostable products.

The company is the nation’s largest maker of biodegradable and compostable food-service items made from plant-based resources, such cold- drink cups made from corn.

Eco Products is an approved food- service vendor for the upcoming Democratic National Convention, scheduled Aug. 25-28. The company expects to supply the DNC with 100,000 pounds of products, about half sugar-cane-based and the rest corn-based.

While there is a bit of revisionist history in this recently published article from EPM.  The e85 coalition was the percolating when it was “Bill, who?” it is really not a matter of taking credit.  

It’s the satisfaction that knowing it was done, in large measure by the Colorado Corn Growers.

When Colorado leaders set out to make E85 available to motorists in their state, they unwittingly developed a recipe for success that other states can use. 

In May 2006, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. established the Governor’s E85 Coalition, which was subsequently re-organized into the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition to include biodiesel in its efforts. In February 2007, Ritter charged the GBC with quadrupling the number of biofuels stations and doubling the amount of biofuels sold in 2006. 

Stacey Simms, biofuels and local fuels program manager for the Governor’s Energy Office, says the GBC took the governor’s request and ran with it. “In February 2007, Colorado had 13 public-private stations selling biofuels,” she explains. “Today, after more than a year-and-a-half, the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition is proud to announce that Colorado has 94 stations either open or under construction.” That number represents growth not expected until the end of 2008, she adds. 

In the spring of 2007, the coalition’s success caught the media’s attention. One of the first stations to add both biodiesel and E85 was in Evergreen, Colo., and was featured in an article in The Denver Post. “This article served as a business case and testimonial for other station owners considering adding biofuels,” says Megan Castle, director of communications for the Governor’s Energy Office.

Report from Ethanol Producer Magazine

It wasn’t too long ago that the United States was building ethanol plants at a rapid pace, but lately a number of smaller ethanol plants have filed for bankruptcy. A number have been abandoned before completion. The price of corn is too high causing slimmer margins.

Most people who follow the industry believe there will be a shake-out in the industry, eliminating some of the smaller entities, with a good long term outlook.  Long term contracts and short term volatility in corn prices contribute to a situation where corn producers can’t fulfill their commitments.

If oil goes to $200 - $500 barrell it will be easy street, for ethanol produces, anyway.

Colorado State University has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to research the use of nonfood plants for biofuels.   The grant was among 10 awards totaling more than $10 million announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA says the grants are aimed at developing a sustainable domestic biofuels industry. The research will focus on cellulosic biofuels made from nonfood crops.

Brazil is likely to ask the World Trade Organization to open a case into U.S. ethanol tariffs, outlining the firs dispute to arise as a result of this week’s global trade talks collapse.

Roberto Azevedo, Brazil’s WTO ambassador, said there was a “strong possibility” that the Latin American country would make a formal complaint in September. Brazil would then be able to ask for the establishment of a WTO panel if a two-month consultation period with the United States fails to produce an agreement.

The case challenges the U.S. ethanol tariff of 54 cents per gallon, which critics say is designed to protect American corn farmers who cannot produce the fuel as cheaply as sugarcane growers in Brazil.

The U.S. considers ethanol the only U.S. product outside the scope of WTO rules, but Brazil would challenge this designation so that tariff cuts on the fuel would have to be a part of any future global trade pact.

The Environmental Protection Agency on July 22 put off a decision on Texas’ request to lower ethanol requirements for gasoline, a change Gov. Rick Perry says is needed to rein in corn prices.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said the agency needs more time to review more than 15,000 public comments and consult with other departments. A decision had been due July 24; the agency now says it hopes to have a decision in early August.

An energy bill passed in December required 9 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended into gasoline from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 of next year. Perry, a Republican, asked the EPA in April to drop the Renewable Fuels Standard requirement to 4.5 billion gallons because the demand for ethanol is raising corn prices for livestock producers.

Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported the highest quarterly profit ever for an American company, as Exxon made nearly $90,000 a minute. The principal reason for the company’s record profit is rising fuel prices.

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, reported a 33 percent increase in second-quarter profit on Thursday, made possible by spiking pump prices even as company production declined.

SUBSIDY TO THE FOSSIL

Between tax incentives, royalty relief, research and development subsidies and accounting gimmicks, oil and gas companies will receive more than $32.9 billion from the federal government over the next five years. The companies receive additional subsidies from federally funded international institutions such as the World Bank.  Analysis from Friends of the Earth provides more details.

According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 86% of all federal energy subsidies will go to the fossil fuel sector between 2005 and 2009.

Why are we not making faster progress on clean energy alternatives?  Because U.S. energy policy is tilting the playing field toward fossil fuels.

Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen is on a mission to set the record straight on ethanol and other alternative fuels.  At the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit on Thursday Dinneen said. “There is no good ethanol and bad ethanol - it’s all better than petroleum.”

Dinneen said ethanol opponents have created a “fantasy world that rivals anything Walt Disney could have created. The reality is, the United States ethanol industry is producing both fuel and food”. 

The production of ethanol reached more than 18 million barrels (or 778 million gallons) in May 2008.  This is a 47% increase from May 2007 and a 10% increase from April. See: Oxygenate Production

Total current production capacity from the 162 plants operating in the US is 9.407 billion gallons per year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. Facilities currently  expanding and under construction will bring that annual capacity to 13.615 billion gallons.

Of 2,000 Americans responding to a survey by The Regional Economist magazine of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis zero percent say they favor lifting import tariffs on ethanol. That opinion bodes badly for lifting the $0.54 a gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane. This view reflects America’s new dream of energy independence. But is it wise or even ethical for America to shut its doors to Brazil’s new fuel?

Without Brazil, Can US Reduce Gas Consumption 20% Over Ten Years?

This ambitious “twenty-in-twenty” gasoline reduction is the Bush administration’s goal. But without Brazil’s ethanol it may be an uphill battle. With US corn setting record prices this year, it’s no surprise ethanol made from US corn is $2.90 a gallon while ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane is less than half the price at $1.40 a gallon. Even after the tariff, Brazil’s ethanol would be almost a dollar a gallon cheaper than ethanol produced domestically from corn.

Unfortunately, the tariff is high enough that it makes ethanol unprofitable in the U.S., says Jose Sergio Gabrielli, president ofPetroleo Brasileiro.

Brazil Looks at Litigation to Open US Ethanol Markets

Frustrated by this week’s collapse of the Doha world trade talks, Brazilian negotiator Roberto Azevedo told the Associated Press that there was a “strong possibility” that Brazil would lodge a formal complaint with the WTO about the US ethanol tariff. His stance is echoed by the Brazilian ethanol lobby.

“We (Unica) will look at three possibilities: litigation, working with like-minded groups in the U.S. to lower tariffs and bilateral talks,” said Marcos Jank, president of the Brazilian sugar grower’s association, Unica.

“We want to export more ethanol and it’s unfair to see the markets closed,” said Janks.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduling a hearing in Omaha on August 18th to discuss ethanol’s effect on corn and food prices and examine the heated debate surrounding the biofuel.

Sen. Ben Nelson said  ethanol has unfairly been demonized by grocery associations, cattle organizations and others as the main cause for higher food prices and higher corn prices.

Defenders of ethanol say its production has contributed only a little to the rise in food prices and that the meteoric rise in oil prices is the biggest culprit.

Pond scum. The thought typically evokes images that leave most people cringing, but it may one day occupy an important role in the nation’s energy supply.

   

Algae needs only sunlight, carbon dioxide, nutrients and water to grow.

The current fuel crunch, driven fundamentally by a rising global demand for oil, has spurred debate among consumers, political leaders, academics and entrepreneurs about plausible alternatives.

A good bit of the discussion has focused on biofuels, commonly defined as energy derived largely from plants and crops like corn, soybeans, switch grass among other sources.

“It’s become obvious that the biofuels sector is much more viable now that the prices of oil are high,” said Beth Ahner, an expert in biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University.

Algae, thought of as pond scum by many people, is an intriguing biofuel prospect, some researchers and entrepreneurs say.

CNN.com producer Cody McCloy, who’s driving across the United States in a biofueled diesel-powered vehicle, is a fan of algae-based fuel, after running it much of the day on Monday during his travels through California.

“There’s no difference running algae than there is running any other biodiesel fuel,” says McCloy. “I’ve noticed very little difference in any of the biofuels that I run in this car or in my 1984 diesel Mercedes that I run at home.”

McCloy says he gets a little lower gas mileage occasionally, but biofuel generally runs smoother than diesel. 

Algae does not need arable land, grows quickly and according to experts has low impact on the environment. Questions remain, however, about the cost of producing algae on a scale large enough to act as a practical alternative for the nation’s energy needs.

The simplest explanation of how it works follows this way: Some strains of algae contain high concentrations of oil when compared to other biofuel sources. The specific strains are isolated and then harvested in large quantifies in pond systems or bioreactors. The oil is then extracted, processed and refined into fuel that has the potential for a variety of uses.

The production of algae has several positives, expert say. Algae, at the most basic level, needs only sunlight, carbon dioxide, nutrients and water to grow. And though the pond and reactor systems needed for the mass production of algae require land, algae does not need land to live and grow.

Consequently, a company could set up a facility in land not used for farming, like, say, a desert. “You’re not taking space that you grow food crops in and converting them over to a biofuel,” Ahner said.

Algae also grows quickly, doubling in size in about a day. Additionally, it has the potential to help mitigate some of the carbon emissions produced by automobiles, households and industries because it consumes carbon dioxide, its proponents say.

But is algae, the simple-celled legend of grade-school textbooks, suitable for production on an industrial scale? “I think that’s the million dollar question,” Ahner said. There are considerable challenges standing in the way

One is maintaining the “ecological stability” of the algae strains being harvested for oil in pond systems, Ahner said. The strains can be can be contaminated by bacteria, viruses and other algae. You want to “control and manage that because one of the last things you’d want to have happen is a virus come in and wipe out your monoculture,” she said.

The biggest obstacle might be the technical and economic viability of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure need for mass production of algae.

The Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a division of the Energy Department, spent more than 15 years researching the promise of algae-based fuel. The project closed in 1996 after the NREL concluded the costs were too high for practical use. The price of oil at the time was about $20 a barrel.

A 2004 study by Michael Briggs at the University of New Hampshire, using an NREL model for algae production, estimated a cost of $308 billion to build enough farms in the United States to “replace petroleum transportation fuels with biodiesel.” An additional $46 billion would be needed to maintain them, the study concluded.

In the wake of the current energy crisis, those numbers are beginning to look like a bargain. The United States imported more than 10 million barrels a day last year at an average price of $72 a barrel and the average price of crude oil has hovered above $100 dollars a barrel for the past few months, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Though large-scale viability remains unclear, big companies and venture capitalists are nevertheless looking in earnest at the possibility of algae-based energy. Chevron and the NREL announced a joint research venture in October 2007, and Royal Dutch Shell announced a month later it was building a facility in Hawaii. In addition, companies like Colorado-based Solix and Massachusetts-based GreenFuel Technologies have been at it for years.

Though Ahner says questions over algae’s viability may not be answered for a few more years, in light of the current energy policy rethink she says, “Now is the time to try and find some solutions.” 

Acreage at or beyond silking reached 59 percent, 28 points behind last year and 22 points behind the 5-year average.  One-fourth of the crop reached the silking stage during the week, with major development occurring in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio, where 30 percent or more of the crop began silking during the week.  

Minnesota’s corn acreage was well behind normal with 34 percent at or beyond silking, 62 points behind last year, and 51 points behind normal.  All States were delayed in the Corn Belt, except Michigan, and elsewhere, delays continued except in Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.  Silking was complete in North Carolina, but was still ongoing elsewhere. 

Corn acreage was 7 percent at or beyond the dough stage, 15 points behind last year and 12 points behind the normal pace.  Corn acreage had not reached the dough stage in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  

Condition of the corn crop was 66 percent good to excellent, increasing 1 point from a week ago.

One of the more significant findings of a Purdue University study released this week on food price drivers is that ethanol policy is only responsible for $1 of the $4 price increase in corn prices since 2004.

Economist Wally Tyner says between 2004 and the beginning of 2008, oil went from $40 per barrel to $120 per barrel at the same time corn prices increased from $2.00 a bushel to $6.00. “Of that $4 increase, about $1 is due to the US subsidy and about $3 is due to the higher crude oil price,” Tyner told a forum on the study earlier this week. “So even if all the subsidies go away tomorrow, corn prices would still be high, unless we chose to ban use of corn for ethanol.”

President Bush says, “Don’t mess with Texas.” Those Texans who are in the cattle “bidness” believe that ethanol is messing with their livelihood. 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken a requirement on renewable fuels for cars and trucks. As part of the 2005 and 2007 energy bills, Congress set a goal of 36 billion gallons from renewable sources by 2012. Of that 36 billion, 15 billion is supposed to be corn-based ethanol. For this year, the requirement is 9 billion, and Texas wants that rolled back temporarily to 4.5 billion.

When Congress passed that law in 2005, of course, corn prices were lower and stable. This year, corn was selling for a record $7 a bushel. Those Texas cattleman, according to industry spokesmen, are losing money on every cow because corn-based feed is so expensive. As the ranchers see it, the demand for ethanol has driven up the price for corn. Ease up on the ethanol requirements, and the price of corn will drop.

The ethanol industry, though, is much more than corn farmers. It is refineries and retailers and, of course, politicians in states such as Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana. You will recognize some of those as swing states in the election.  Any change by the EPA would be like pushing on a water bed: just watch the ripples run in all directions.

Denver-based Biofuel Energy Corp. announced it shipped 2 million gallons of ethanol. The shipments, which included distillers grains, were from plants in Wood River, Neb., and Fairmont, Minn. 

According to a company news release, the plants commenced operation in June and are making progress toward full commercial operation. The 115 MMgy ethanol facilities were constructed adjacent to Cargill grain elevators that have been operating on the sites for several decades. The sites are also bordered by Union Pacific main rail lines. When operating at nameplate capacity, the combined plants are expected to produce 230 MMgy of ethanol and 720,000 tons of dried distillers grains. 

University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass—and even yard waste.

“Producing ethanol from renewable biomass sources such as grasses is desirable because they are potentially available in large quantities,” said Joy Peterson, professor of microbiology and chair of UGA’s Bioenergy Task Force. “Optimizing the breakdown of the plant fibers is critical to production of liquid transportation fuel via fermentation.” Peterson developed the new technology with former UGA microbiology student Sarah Kate Brandon, and Mark Eiteman, professor of biological and agricultural engineering.

The new technology features a fast, mild, acid-free pretreatment process that increases by at least 10 times the amount of simple sugars released from inexpensive biomass for conversion to ethanol. The technology effectively eliminates the use of expensive and environmentally unsafe chemicals currently used to pretreat biomass.

Inexpensive waste products—including corn stover or bagasse, the waste from corn and sugar cane harvests, fast-growing weeds—and non-food crops grown for biofuel, such as switchgrass, Napiergrass and Bermudagrass, are widely viewed as the best sustainable resources for ethanol made from biofuels.

By Bob Dinneen

Our reliance on foreign oil is driving up all consumer prices today, including food. Americans know this. They know that soaring oil prices are increasing the cost of everything from apples to Pampers. Oil is used on the farm, in transportation, processing and packaging everything in the grocery store.

According to a recent Purdue University study, record crude oil price is the single most important factor behind higher grain prices, responsible for 75% of the recent rise in corn prices. Biofuels provide one means of mitigating oil’s devastating impact on our economy, including the higher price of food.

The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members will rake in over $1 trillion dollars this year, recently complained about the “intrusion into the market” from biofuels. Here’s why. According to the International Energy Agency, which represents industrialized energy consumers, without biofuels, demand for OPEC oil would increase by a million barrels a day.

To put a finer point on it, according to Merrill Lynch, the Department of Energy and many other institutions, ethanol and biofuel use is keeping gasoline prices from skyrocketing even more, saving the average family $350 to $500 a year. This compares with $15 to $25 in higher food costs some say results from biofuel production.

Farmers get only 20 cents of every dollar spent in the supermarket. They are not profiting from today’s high commodity prices. Indeed, because their energy costs are going up, it is costing them far more to produce. If we are going to slow food price inflation, we need to finally address oil prices through increased biofuels production.

That was the objective of last year’s energy bill. It made sense then, when crude oil cost $90 a barrel. And it makes even more sense now at $130. The Renewable Fuels Standard — the policy to increase the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol from non-edible feed corn and cellulose in wood chips, switch grass and municipal waste — is succeeding.

Together with America’s farmers, the most productive in the world, biofuel producers are adopting new technologies and improved efficiencies that will yield more grain and more biofuels. The result will be a more sustainable energy generations to come. We must maintain the foresight to ensure this future becomes reality

by Steve Scott

President, Colorado Corn Administrative Committee

We depend upon our farmers for wholesome food.  We depend upon our farmers to grow the fiber for our clothes.  And increasingly we depend upon them to provide the energy we need to power our state.

Within a few years Colorado farmers will harness an impressive amount of electrical energy from wind and supply it to the Front Range of Colorado.  They will generate from 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, the energy equivalent of 36 million barrels of foreign oil.  Colorado wind will power 330,000 homes.

It will be clean and renewable, courtesy of wind farms built on the agricultural land managed by Colorado farmers.

As oilman T. Boone Pickens tells us in his commercials, “America is in a hole and it’s getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year. I’ve been an oilman all my life, but this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of.”

Drilling more oil feeds an addiction that is as unhealthy to our economy as it is to our air. The proof is in the toxins of every breath we take, the price of every tank of gas we consume, and the cost of every bag of groceries we buy.

The solution must come from American produced renewable energy.  And we have the resources to make it happen.

We know Colorado and the Great Plain States have the greatest wind energy potential in the world. The Department of Energy calculated that 20% of the electricity used by Americans can come from wind.  Already wind power produces 48 billion kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 4.5 million homes.

As more hybrid cars come onto the market we will buy vehicles that run on ethanol and electricity generated by Colorado farmers from Colorado crops and Colorado wind. 

While oil companies have generated a public relations campaign to disparage ethanol, its valuable contribution to energy independence is widely recognized.  Within a few years ethanol will be made from crops such as native grasses like switch grass, and eventually from biomass, as well as from corn.

Today ethanol plants are producing electricity by cogeneration using heat generated by production to power steam generators.

The world will be safer when we no longer rely on an uncertain and finite resource called oil. Ethanol and wind are important steps to American energy independence.

It is important for us to remember that without the American farmer there would be no ethanol industry. It’s an industry that produces more than 10 billion gallons of renewable fuel every year, replacing more than 200 million barrels of imported petroleum.

We will only be secure when we no longer transfer trillions of dollars of our national wealth to countries that use this economic club to wield undue influence over our people and our policies.

We no longer will need to spend billions in defense to safeguard our energy supplies.  Nor will we pay the horrific and unacceptable cost of young American lives in foreign wars fought over oil.

As with ethanol, Colorado farmers are now required to make extensive us of their considerable talents and limited capital for the general welfare of the people of the state. 

And as with farming in general they will take enormous risks, with a return that is uncertain. Their talent, their skill, their drive and their determination will make it successful.  They will America with the food, feed, food and fuel to assure this great country is all that it can be.

After all, they are American farmers and they expect no less of themselves than does their country.

Rain showers have been few and far between this summer — but it was hard to tell by looking at the lush fields of Munson Farms this week.

While the foothills to the west and the prairies to the east were predominantly brown, the crops on the 80-acre farm east of Boulder were healthy and vibrant. A colorful patch of zinnias bordered rows of healthy squash and ears of sweet corn nearly overflowed from baskets in the produce stand at the corner of 75th Street and Valmont Road.

Despite the lack of rain and a recent string of 90-plus-degree days this summer, Munson Farms — and most of Boulder County’s agricultural businesses — are having a good year. A large snowpack in Colorado’s high country has allowed farmers to use irrigated water to make up for the scarcity of precipitation — but that lack of rainfall could mean big problems next year if heavy snows don’t arrive again this winter.

“We’re having a great year because we’ve been able to use irrigation water, and we have enough to get us through this year,” said Michael Munson, whose family owns the farm. “Reservoirs did not fill this year because there was no rain water, and a lot of people were pulling water out in the early spring.

“We do have stored water — not tons of it — but enough for this year.”

Basins above average

According to the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lakewood, all eight of Colorado’s major river basins had above average snowpack as of May 1. Some of the state’s river basins — such as the Colorado River basin — were well above average. That basin was 122 percent of average as of May 1.

That basin is especially important to local farmers. Boulder and Broomfield counties are included in the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which administrates the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.

That project pipes water from the upper headwaters of the Colorado River to northern Colorado for irrigation and helps distribute it to farmers.

The Western Slope water has helped keep the fields of northern Colorado green this year, according to Jill Boyd, a spokesman for the water district. If farmers only had rain water and Front Range snowpack on which to rely, the situation would be much worse.

The lack of water on this side of the Continental Divide is still problematic, though.

Farmers with senior water rights — or those claims that are oldest — have been able to fill their water storage with Western Slope water. But junior water-rights holders have had to wait for what’s left, and some of them weren’t able to fill their storage this year.

“The fact that Mother Nature didn’t give us the April and May showers that we need means we’re really going to see the impact on storage because of that next year,” Boyd said.

The region is in the midst of one of the driest years in recorded history. The first half of 2008 in the water district was especially tough, with precipitation only 61 percent of average as of July 1.

Hot July

July hasn’t been much better in Boulder.

According to local weather historian William Callahan, the driest July on record — in 2002 — saw only .09 inches of rainfall in the city. Heading into this weekend, Boulder had just under that amount, but likely will avoid the dubious distinction of being the driest July on record, thanks to some expected weekend storms.

But Boulder went 30 days without rain following a big rain of 1.56 inches on June 5. Friday also was the 13th consecutive day with a high temperature of at least 90 degrees, and that combination means wild vegetation is exceedingly dry.

“I’m amazed that there hasn’t been more fires because off all the things that are dying off,” Callahan said. “In a sense we’ve been losing anything that’s stored in the ground soil moisture.”

A fire ban did go into effect this weekend for unincorporated Boulder County, with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office citing the 10 percent moisture content in large logs and trees.

There are no municipal watering restrictions in Boulder or Broomfield county.

Most farmers shouldn’t have to worry about watering their crops for the rest of the summer, either, even if the trend of hot and dry weather continues in August. And Munson isn’t going to worry about next year, especially when it depends on Colorado’s unpredictable weather.

“Who knows? We may have a massive spring storm and everything’s off the table, or we have a big winter storm and everything’s off the table,” he said. “We can’t do much about it.

“Every year you hit a button and it starts all over.”

The National Corn Growers Association has extended its deadline for entries in the 2008 National Corn Yield Contest to August 15, to accommodate growers impacted by the Midwest floods. With harvested corn acres expected to be the second-highest since the 1940s, growers are encouraged to sign up now for this annual event that highlights the success of their work.

“Last year, nearly 5,000 growers accepted the challenge to test their corn production skill and knowledge by competing with proven winners to reach the ultimate goal of champion,” said David Ward, chairman of NCGA’s Production and Stewardship Action Team. “We’re proud to present this opportunity for our members to explore new ideas and production techniques, while gleaning knowledge to enhance their future yield potential.”

Grower leaders involved in the program stressed how important it was that entrants be aware of changes to the program for this year.

“For those who have accepted the challenge to compete in past contests, there are several important changes to contest regulations,” said Matt Gibson, chairman of NCGA’s Grower Services Action Team. “After each contest, a group of NCGA corn growers review the contest rules and approve changes to make the contest entry and harvest process less complicated while maintaining integrity.”

Ward and Gibson said that entrants need to pay close attention particularly to the changes pertaining to supervisors who check or recheck the counts. For example, if two supervisors complete the initial check, a recheck is not required for yields less than 300 bushels per acre; whereas initial checks completed by one supervisor requires a recheck at 250 bushels per acre. Also, one supervisor who completed the initial check may be approved or assigned by NCGA to be one of the two supervisors completing a recheck

It’s great to exchange news with friends and neighbors in the local coffee shop.  We’ve taken the idea one step further with an electronic coffee where you can read posts to reply, exchange ideas across the state, and across the nation.

The Colorado Corn Growers Association will post articles, ideas and news items that we think may interest you.  Feel free to comment of anything you read here.  Just hit comment and enter your thoughts.

Bryon Weathers, President of the Corn Growers Association

Steve Scott, President of the Corn Administrative Committee