Ethanol Industry Meets in Indianapolis, Discusses Future and Profitability

Jun 11, 2014

Where does the ethanol industry stand in 2014? That’s a big topic of discussion at this week’s Fueling Ethanol Workshop in downtown Indianapolis. Connie Chappell, Benchmarking Consultant for Christianson and Associates, says ethanol profitability is about more than just price right now.

“The big news story that I think is out there is that there is an increasing difference between the plants that aren’t doing quite as well and plants that are really successful. And there’s a big difference there.”

Chappell says last year’s conversation surrounding the ethanol industry was saving on production costs and staying afloat. That conversation has shifted.

“Now the conversation is much more focused on what do we do with our profits and where do we reinvest to make sure that we’re staying competitive going forward in the future.”

Recent data shows Chappell that plants with higher yields don’t necessarily have higher profitability.

“As distillers grains becomes more important to each plant’s profitability, right now it’s between 25 and 30 percent of a plant’s profitability is actually coming from, or their revenue is coming from distillers grains, corn oil, other coal products. So that piece of it starts to take on more significance over ethanol yield.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.