Midwestern Governors say USDA stats cloud true corn demand for ethanol
In Missouri, a coalition of 34 U.S. governors have called on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to alter the way his department reports the use of corn for ethanol production. They argue that it downplays the growing importance of distillers grains to meet livestock feed demand and provides an inaccurate rhetorical weapon for ethanol opponents.
“Unfortunately, USDA’s monthly corn supply and demand reports provide support for this sensationalized reporting because they identify “corn demand for ethanol” without immediately noting this is gross demand, and not the net use of the starch portion of the corn kernel. This overstates the use of corn for ethanol by as much as a factor of two or more, and fails to inform the public about what is truly happening in the food and fuel supply chain,” said Gov. Sam Brownback and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton write in a March 15 letter representing the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition.
Category: Fuels
