SD Corn

Congratulations to the originators of the term, “Pink Slime,” you have officially put over 700 hard-working Americans out of a job. By not fully understanding the product yourself, your reckless reporting on a healthy, affordable, lean protein source scared millions for absolutely no reason which in turn led to a full-fledged misinformation epidemic across the entire nation.

The results have been devastating with lay-offs from blue collar to white, along with the closing of three plants at Beef Products Inc., headquartered in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.

Is this what journalism has come to in today’s culture? When did grabbing a headline at the expense of so many jobs, ranches and families become acceptable?

Lean finely textured beef remains to be a quality source of protein regardless of the damage done by the false media blitz. What no longer remains are the incomes for hundreds of families and the market stability for thousands of our nations’ family farms and ranches that continue to face uncertainty not because of market fundamentals, but catchy headlines.

New research from two economics professors at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University shows that the average driver in the Midwest saved around $1.69 per gallon as a result of having American ethanol in the marketplace during 2011.

The release today from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University also revealed that on a national average, ethanol brought down wholesale gasoline prices by $1.09/gallon. This is up significantly from 2010 price impact savings of 89 cents per gallon.

Based on data from the Census Bureau and Energy Information Administration, 116.7 million U.S. households consumed 131.2 billion gallons of gasoline in 2011, for an average of 1,124 gallons per household. That means ethanol reduced the average American household’s spending on gasoline by more than $1,200 in 2011.

Three primary factors are responsible for ethanol’s more robust price benefit at the pump in 2011:  higher oil and gasoline prices, higher ethanol inclusion, and ethanol being priced at a larger-than-normal discount to gasoline.

“While it’s hard to imagine that gas prices could be even higher than they are now, this study clearly underscores that the current pain at the pump would be far worse without ethanol,” said Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.

The study shows that regular grade gasoline prices averaged $3.52 per gallon in 2011, but would have been closer to $4.60 per gallon without the inclusion of more than 13 billion gallons of lower-priced ethanol.

“Having access to American ethanol truly generates a significant financial savings for hard-working families in South Dakota and the rest of country which typically goes unnoticed,” said South Dakota Corn Utilization Council president, Chad Blindauer, a farmer and rancher from Mitchell, SD. “It’s important for consumers and policy makers at all levels to understand just how much of a positive impact the ethanol industry truly has on our country.”

Ethanol has helped save American drivers and the economy more than $477 billion in gasoline expenditures since 2000 – an average of $39.8 billion a year.

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

A few weeks back, South Dakota Corn was honored with a, “Best of Show” award at the National Agri-Marketing Association conference. The award was one of only two given out at NAMA. Overall, South Dakota Corn had a very successful night in Kansas City and you can click here to read more about the other awards that were brought home.

Stand up for corn today! Become a member of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. Besides the membership benefits like DTN Six Factors, seed corn and quick roots certificates, South Dakota Corn is giving away a New Apple iPad to one lucky new or renewing member who signs up before the end of June 2012. Your voice and support has never been more important to our organization as we continue to work for the corn farmers of South Dakota through lobbying efforts in Pierre and Washington D.C., monitoring and responding to state and national issues and creating new marketing opportunities for you.

Save money, reduce your vehicle’s emissions, increase your horsepower, support the local economy and lessen our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. These are a few of the many benefits consumers with vehicles 2001 or newer will gain access to with the newly approved fuel blend E15 (15% ethanol and 85% gasoline).

Is E15 safe for your vehicle? Absolutely. Through the Environmental Protection Agency’s rigorous testing, E15 has become the most tested fuel in history with every test coming back with safe and positive results.

Will this impact the renewable fuel market? Yes. E15 can be used by 62% of the light duty vehicles on the road today, representing more than 80% of the unleaded fuel sold, benefitting America’s air quality and consumers checkbooks.

Let’s make this perfectly clear, no matter what you may read or hear from friends and neighbors, E15 is NOT a mandate in anyway, shape or form. It is simply an additional choice at the pump for certain consumers who wish to support a clean, American-made fuel.

When can you expect to see E15 at a pump near you? In a perfect world it would be tomorrow, but because of continued legal battles from the oil industry in Washington D.C. it will most likely be sometime in early fall before consumers in South Dakota have access to the new blend.

For more information on E15, check out http://www.e15fuel.org/

What do you know about hybrids? Not the vehicles, but the plants. Did you know that plants have been bred to gain specific traits for thousands of years? Plants are bred to better compete with invasive species and/or climate variables while producing more.

Understanding the complexities about modern plant technology is difficult for people not involved in agriculture. Even farmers have to research and learn about the new traits and varieties coming out each year. As a consumer, here are a few things to know about modern seed/plant technology 1. It is safe 2. It reduces the amount of necessary chemical applications. 3. It uses nutrients more efficiently. 4. Most importantly it has led to higher yields.

72 years of research from Purdue University continues to show why plant technology is important. A study released last week revealed that modern corn hybrids are becoming more efficient users of nitrogen.

“Corn production often faces the criticism from society that yields are only going up because of an increased dependency on nitrogen,” said Tony Vyn, professor of agronomy whose findings were published in the early online version of the journal Field Crops Research. “Although modern hybrids take up more total nitrogen per acre during the growing season than they did before, the amount of grain produced per pound of nitrogen accumulated in corn plants is substantially greater than it was for corn hybrids of earlier decades. So, in that sense, the efficiency of nitrogen utilization has gradually improved.”

Research like this shows why using modern corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and other plants is so important.

“Farmers have the challenge of feeding a world with 7 billion people and are doing so with less land, water, fertilizer and chemical,” said South Dakota Corn Utilization Council president, Chad Blindauer. “As farmers we have an obligation to choose the best inputs which will not only produce the biggest yields, but do in a safe and sustainable manner, which is exactly what today’s hybrids allow us to do.”