Fueling the future - July’s boost in corn ethanol production

Sep 27, 2023

Corn, a golden staple of our diets, is making headlines for its growing role in fueling our vehicles. The USDA’s recent data unveils an interesting trend – more corn is being used for ethanol production.

In July, the corn fields had something to celebrate. The month saw a 2% increase in corn consumed compared to June and a 1% increase from July 2022, totaling an impressive 504 million bushels. Most of this – a whopping 92% – was turned into alcohol, with the remaining 8% used for various other needs.

Corn dedicated to fuel alcohol production reached 454 million bushels in July, marking a 3% increase from the previous month and a 2% increase year-over-year. Whether for dry milling or wet milling, corn was the star, contributing 91.9% and 8.1% respectively.

And there’s more! Corn used for industrial alcohol production reached 7.19 million bushels, showing growth from the previous month and year. However, not all sectors saw growth – corn for beverage alcohol saw a decrease in July.

Looking at the by-products, the production at dry mills showed mixed results. While some products like condensed distillers solubles and corn oil saw a decrease, distillers dried grains and modified distillers' grains showed an increase compared to June, with some variations from the previous year.

This tale of corn is one of growth and versatility. Corn’s increasing contribution to fuel ethanol production paints a picture of a resource that’s not just feeding us but also fueling a sustainable future.

Source : wisconsinagconnection

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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