Governors say USDA corn reports misleading on ethanol
March 16, 2011 | 08:00 AM
The Agriculture Department's monthly corn supply and demand reports are distorting perceptions of how much corn is being used for ethanol and should be changed, a 33-member coalition of governors told Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a letter sent Tuesday.
The Hagstrom Report obtained a copy of the letter.
The reports, which include a category "corn demand for ethanol" without noting that this is gross demand for ethanol and not the net use of the corn starch portion of the corn kernel, provides support for "sensationalized reporting," wrote the Governors Biofuels Coalition, which is co-chaired by Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and Gov. Mark Dayton, D-Minn. The reports overstate the use of corn for ethanol by a factor of two or more because the remnants after making ethanol are a high-nutrient animal feed that displaces other corn and soybean feed, the governors said.
The governors also suggested that USDA promote the use of anaerobic digesters so that more animal wastes can be converted into energy.
The Hagstrom Report obtained a copy of the letter.
The reports, which include a category "corn demand for ethanol" without noting that this is gross demand for ethanol and not the net use of the corn starch portion of the corn kernel, provides support for "sensationalized reporting," wrote the Governors Biofuels Coalition, which is co-chaired by Gov. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and Gov. Mark Dayton, D-Minn. The reports overstate the use of corn for ethanol by a factor of two or more because the remnants after making ethanol are a high-nutrient animal feed that displaces other corn and soybean feed, the governors said.
The governors also suggested that USDA promote the use of anaerobic digesters so that more animal wastes can be converted into energy.
