Ethanol?

Alaskan swamp collies

Well-known member
okay I have too much time on my hands to think. With the oil prices being in the toilet, I would assume the ethanol prices would crash also. Thus less corn planted. Must be super hard on the farmers to know what to plant this spring under these challenging times. Or are there enough subsidies to make corn profitable? Probably all academic from my point this year since our borders are essentially shut.
 
okay I have too much time on my hands to think. With the oil prices being in the toilet, I would assume the ethanol prices would crash also. Thus less corn planted. Must be super hard on the farmers to know what to plant this spring under these challenging times. Or are there enough subsidies to make corn profitable? Probably all academic from my point this year since our borders are essentially shut.

Ethanol plants are struggling, there is talk that some will shut down. Farmers are not sure what to plant and yes crop insurance will influence that. Crop prices are very weak.
 
We buy a bunch of DDgs for feed. Can’t get anyone to write a contract at any amount right now and we typically are dealing with 4-5 different plants. The reason is they don’t know if they will be operating next week or next month right now so can’t commit to anything. Exports to China are way down due to ASF and then the price of crude is a double whammy on them.
 
We buy a bunch of DDgs for feed. Can’t get anyone to write a contract at any amount right now and we typically are dealing with 4-5 different plants. The reason is they don’t know if they will be operating next week or next month right now so can’t commit to anything. Exports to China are way down due to ASF and then the price of crude is a double whammy on them.

there was an earlier estimate for 100 million acres of corn production this year..uncertainty everywhere, but CRP in the future may be more lucrative, if it is ever offered again in a meaningful way.
 
There is actually a real need for ethanol for hand sanitizer right now.

Grain Processing Corporation and ADM have ethanol plants designed to produce ethanol for human contact and consumption. Unfortunately most grain ethanol plants are set up only for the gasoline blending market. Most ethanol used in gasoline blending is denatured with fusel oil.

There is a plant in far SW MN and another in NE that are looking at diversification from gasoline blending stock.

Distilleries have a much higher standard of production monitoring and some distilleries are actually producing ethanol based cleaners right now.
 
I know it’s a little off topic but is AG related. I would love to see the cattle guys get some help. I have some friends really struggling. As it relates to pheasants we need cattle farms or else the land will fall to the plow. The corn and soybean growers have powerful voices and lobbyists but you never hear from the cattlemen on the national stage. Even on this board it’s always about corn and soybeans. Look at the price of beef but yet their prices are so low it’s tough for them to make it. If you like birds would you rather see a section of corn or a section of pasture/grass etc.,
 
I know it’s a little off topic but is AG related. I would love to see the cattle guys get some help. I have some friends really struggling. As it relates to pheasants we need cattle farms or else the land will fall to the plow. The corn and soybean growers have powerful voices and lobbyists but you never hear from the cattlemen on the national stage. Even on this board it’s always about corn and soybeans. Look at the price of beef but yet their prices are so low it’s tough for them to make it. If you like birds would you rather see a section of corn or a section of pasture/grass etc.,

Well you said a mouthful there and you said it well. Packers are making a killing, they own the cattle for accouple of days while the guys that own them the rest of there lives are struggling. I hate to sound like a broken record but this is why I am really enthused about what Blue Nest Beef is doing. Expanding bird habitat and supporting regenerative cattlemen. If everybody bought one box of beef a year from Blue Nest Beef it would do both.

bluenestbeef.com
 
I know it’s a little off topic but is AG related. I would love to see the cattle guys get some help. I have some friends really struggling. As it relates to pheasants we need cattle farms or else the land will fall to the plow. The corn and soybean growers have powerful voices and lobbyists but you never hear from the cattlemen on the national stage. Even on this board it’s always about corn and soybeans. Look at the price of beef but yet their prices are so low it’s tough for them to make it. If you like birds would you rather see a section of corn or a section of pasture/grass etc.,

Why would that land fall under the plow? It is cattle land because it isn't good farm ground and trying to make money on marginal crop land in a commodity market like this is suicide. I think some may try but it will likely fail.

As for the ethanol, I'd love to see the government get out of the ethanol business and stop enticing farmers to plant millions of acres of corn so that we can burn it in our cars under some mistaken belief that crop based fuels are somehow good for anything. If they were we would have had ethanol plants already without the need for the central planners in Washington DC tell us we needed such things.

So now we have a glut of oil, a glut of corn, and whole industries, built up around the mandates rather than built around the demand.
 
Why would that land fall under the plow? It is cattle land because it isn't good farm ground and trying to make money on marginal crop land in a commodity market like this is suicide. I think some may try but it will likely fail.

As for the ethanol, I'd love to see the government get out of the ethanol business and stop enticing farmers to plant millions of acres of corn so that we can burn it in our cars under some mistaken belief that crop based fuels are somehow good for anything. If they were we would have had ethanol plants already without the need for the central planners in Washington DC tell us we needed such things.

So now we have a glut of oil, a glut of corn, and whole industries, built up around the mandates rather than built around the demand.

A lot of good cattle habitat turned into corn and beans as a result of crop insurance and lobbyists that work for the Monsanto types. As for the rest of what you said you said it very well too. Right now the price of corn per pound is as cheap as hay is per pound. In my life that has not been true very often.
 
Why would that land fall under the plow? It is cattle land because it isn't good farm ground and trying to make money on marginal crop land in a commodity market like this is suicide. I think some may try but it will likely fail.

As for the ethanol, I'd love to see the government get out of the ethanol business and stop enticing farmers to plant millions of acres of corn so that we can burn it in our cars under some mistaken belief that crop based fuels are somehow good for anything. If they were we would have had ethanol plants already without the need for the central planners in Washington DC tell us we needed such things.

So now we have a glut of oil, a glut of corn, and whole industries, built up around the mandates rather than built around the demand.

The oil industry ever get any help from Uncle Sam ?
 
Unfortunately we all get help from Uncle Sam (more than others). Thus the mounting debt of the federal government which further escalates the dependence of foreign governments to buy up our debt. With that said, the predicament we are currently facing required the 2 Trillion bailout to help the everyday american.
 
Unfortunately we all get help from Uncle Sam (more than others). Thus the mounting debt of the federal government which further escalates the dependence of foreign governments to buy up our debt. With that said, the predicament we are currently facing required the 2 Trillion bailout to help the everyday american.

without ethanol production where/what would the market be for corn? at this point it (corn/ethanol) is nothing more than an ag subsidy.....corn ethanol actually takes over for the old CRP production and payments.
 
Gevo - Luverne, MN shutting down. Cannot be the only ethanol plant to go idle.



ENGLEWOOD, Colorado – March 31, 2020 – Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) announced today that due to the impact the COVID-19 virus has had on the economy and Gevo’s industry, Gevo has suspended production operations at its production facility in Luverne, Minnesota (the “Luverne Facility”) for the foreseeable future. In connection with the suspension of operations and the overall economic disruption caused by COVID-19, Gevo also made the difficult decision to terminate 30 employees, cutting across Agri-Energy’s operations at the Luverne Facility and Gevo’s headquarters in Colorado. The remaining employees that earn above a certain dollar threshold, including senior executives, have agreed to take a 20% salary reduction over the next three months, with the 20% portion to be paid in stock. With these steps, Gevo expects to save several million dollars of cash burn during 2020.
 
without ethanol production where/what would the market be for corn? at this point it (corn/ethanol) is nothing more than an ag subsidy.....corn ethanol actually takes over for the old CRP production and payments.

What is ethanol used for in gasoline ? An oxygenator ? What are the alternatives to it ?
 
Many (most) refineries are throttling back production. Refineries make three general grades of fuel kerosene (aviation), motor gasoline and diesel/fuel oil. Some modern refineries have the ability to alter the mix somewhat, but aviation fuel demand is about gone and motor gasoline fuel demand is low.

Ethanol plants operate on such a thin margin, plus if there is no demand for motor gasoline ...
 
US had become self sufficient on crude oil and distillates. Can't readily or legally export crude oil much ... but US net exporter of distillates.

Until this covid19 and the OPEC fall out.

So you see WTI at $20. What you don't see is Williston sour (higher sulfur) trading at $1.25/barrel. When some wells get capped they cannot be recovered later. Interesting times.
 
US had become self sufficient on crude oil and distillates. Can't readily or legally export crude oil much ... but US net exporter of distillates.

Until this covid19 and the OPEC fall out.

So you see WTI at $20. What you don't see is Williston sour (higher sulfur) trading at $1.25/barrel. When some wells get capped they cannot be recovered later. Interesting times.
Wow, if Williston oil is $1.25 a barrel I should be able to get a cheap motel room that takes dogs this fall. That is if I can get across the Canadian border.
 
Back
Top