It’s always a great day to stand up for corn and now in addition to the long list of membership incentives the South Dakota Corn Growers Association has added a NASCAR Web Portal for its members.

Corn farmers have ventured into an exciting new partnership with NASCAR® that showcases the high –performance benefits of domestic, American Ethanol. More than 75 million fans will hear this positive message thanks to your membership support.

As part of American Ethanol’s partnership with NASCAR, the South Dakota Corn Growers Association benefits from all the race circuit has to offer and our members are invited to join the fun. SDCGA has launched an online portal to all things NASCAR, an online connection is customized for corn grower members by NASCAR.

In the “Deals” section of the Website, members have access to exclusive offers on the latest gear and unadvertised offers from Official NASCAR Partners and Licensees such as:

·         Bank of America
·         DirectTV
·         Office Depot
·         Hotels like the Gaylord Texan and Hard Rock Las Vegas
·         Sprint Wireless
·         U Coat It floor coatings
·         UPS

Plus, a whole host of great benefits for NASCAR fans. Want to see the action in person? The “Race Tickets” section will hook you up with best deals on the circuit. NASCAR RacePoints is the official rewards program of NASCAR, where you can enroll and earn points when purchasing NASCAR apparel, merchandise, collectibles and experiences. On the “Fan Center” page, you can view weekly race videos, become part of NASCAR’s social network and find the NASCAR Fan Guide, wallpaper and screen saver downloads. Test your NASCAR knowledge every week for a chance to win amazing prizes in the “Play to Win” section.  

Log on to www.ncga.com/racing for more information including the freshest news on the American Ethanol partnership.

If you are a regular reader of the Corn Hugger blog, you are well aware of the many benefits from corn ethanol production as it produces clean burning fuel and the livestock feed distillers grain. But now a third product, inedible corn oil is starting to get attention as it’s becoming a popular feedstock source for another renewable fuel, biodiesel.

Corn oil  can either be separated from the kernel prior to the ethanol process or from the byproduct distillers grain through corn oil extraction technology. Currently 1/3 of United States ethanol plants have the technology but with the growing market, many other plants will be installing the process this year.

Corn oil is extremely environmentally friendly as its carbon intensity has the lowest rating when comparing it to other biodiesel feed stocks. This will be especially important in states with low carbon fuels standards such as California.

Overall this is just another example of how the biofuels industry is constantly changing, adapting and working together to improve efficiencies through innovation helping America not only meet the biodiesel goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard but push production over one billion gallons in 2012.

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

Domestic ethanol displaced the need for 445 million barrels of foreign oil last year, saves you money at the pump, creates American jobs, burns cleaner than gasoline and contributed more than $53 billion to the national GDP in 2010. The best part of all is that its made right here in South Dakota.

South Dakota farmers and ranchers are the True Environmentalists.

Earth day comes but once a year giving folks a time to appreciate the world we live in by planting a tree, starting a recycling project, picking up trash or finding ways to become more energy efficient. But to our nations’ farmers, everyday is Earth Day.

South Dakota farmers and ranchers, the True Environmentalists, take steps nearly every day to improve their land, protect the water, air and care for their livestock and local wildlife.

Each year, farmers are continuing to become more efficient through new practices and technologies. No-till planting, precision agriculture and seed biotechnology are just a few of things that farmers are using to care for their soil, prevent erosion, reduce run off, nutrient application and overall energy.

“The clearest measure of sustainability is the ability to increase efficiency, while decreasing environmental impacts,” said Lisa Richardson, SDCUC Executive Director.

Using less and growing more is exactly what farmers have been doing over last few decades.

During the past 20 years corn farmers have…

• Reduced the amount of land needed per bushel by 37%
• Reduced the amount of soil loss per bushel by 69%
• Reduced the amount of energy needed per bushel by 37%
• Reduced emissions per bushel by 30%

(Source: Field to Market Report)

Not only do farmers care for the land in a sustainable way, but they are both feeding and fueling a growing population.

“Our ability to feed and fuel a world population that will double in the next 20 to 40 years is in the hands of dedicated farmers and ranchers, the True Environmentalists who are willing to adapt their operations to not only increase their productivity but enhance the natural resources around them,” said Richardson.

In case you didn’t know it, Glenn Beck hates ethanol and has always been very vocal about it including a recent rant using some fear mongering about our national corn supply where he brings up the food vs. fuel argument.

Glenn must be desperate for killing some air time because the food vs. fuel debate has been put to bed more times than a teething two year-old. Beck, like every other anti-ethanol rube fails to mention the contribution of dried distillers grain (DDG’s), corn ethanol’s by product which can be fed to cattle, hogs, poultry and aquaculture. One-third of the corn used for ethanol comes back as DDG’s as the production process only removes the starch.

DDG’s impact includes replacing more than one million bushels of corn for feed in the U.S. and its overall production is equivalent to the number four corn producing nation in the world. Distillers grain exports are in high demand in Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.

Numerous experts have come out over the past few weeks with the same message, “Don’t blame ethanol and farmers for rising food prices.” The reason behind rising food costs has much more to do with rising oil prices, weather and unrest in the Middle East.

Beck says only one billion bushels will be going to food…wait, he does know that humans don’t consume yellow number two corn, right? Well that’ tough to say when a so-called expert totally excludes distillers grain from a food vs. fuel argument.

Glenn states that farmers can’t produce more corn. While much depends on the weather, with increased seed and farming technologies corn yields are still trending upwards allowing farmers to consistently meet the world’s demands for food, feed, fuel and fiber.

Beck with finishes with the line, “It’s like we are being set up for a lose-lose.”

I’m sorry Mr. Beck but reducing our countries dependence on foreign oil, creating jobs, bettering the environment and producing a high-protein livestock feed sounds like nothing but winning to me.

Corn Comments Podcast with Jim Woster.

How soon we forget. Jim dives into explaining that farmers are not the culprits behind rising food prices despite current higher commodity values.

South Dakota Farmers and Ranchers are the True Environmentalists.

Happy Easter from everyone at South Dakota Corn.