Potential Infrastructure Constraints on Current Corn-Based and Future Biomass Based U.S. Ethanol Production

Rapid growth in fuel ethanol production in the U.S. will create pressure on infrastructure both in the near term and the longer term. Currently the vast majority of fuel ethanol produced is grain based with corn based feedstocks dwarfing the quantity of all other grain feedstocks. In the future it is expected that biomass based ethanol production will also develop using crop residues and other cellulosic feedstocks including switchgrass, woody plants and woodchip by-products from lumbering activities. Public and private investments are now being made in research and development for both crop residue and other biomass based feedstocks for ethanol production. Several pilot projects for plant scale production are already in progress. This paper will: (a) Summarize some of the major impacts rapid growth in the corn based ethanol (CE) production is now having on infrastructure in the Midwestern corn producing states. (b) Examine some of the likely infrastructure needs that might be expected to occur as a consequence of the future development of biomass based ethanol (BE) production.

Channeling, Identity Preservation and the Value Chain: Lessons from the Recent Problems with Starlink Corn

Biotech grains hold great promise for both producers and consumers but a thorough understanding of the value chain will be vitally important in realizing that potential. Biotech grains with input traits not approved for all uses can pose a serious problem for the grain handling and processing industry as they move through the value chain. This problem occurs because there is no premium to cover added costs of segregation and handling input trait grains after harvest. In the case of Starlink the manufacturer is currently providing a defacto premium to producers and elevators to make the channeling effort effective.Output trait grains not approved for all uses may also create a problem if due care is not used. However the existence of a premium over the market price for commodity grain provides a positive incentive to create a separate and distinct logistics channel for these products. Experience with Starlink indicates that attempting to channel a product that is not acceptable for all uses without a premium can inflict significant uncompensated costs on the output side of the value chain. These costs may include market discounts and are typically incurred by firms who do not receive any meaningful gain from the sale of the trait.

FCSA Sale to Rabobank: Selling What? On Whose Authority? And For Whose Benefit?

Agricultural Finance,

The Economic Importance of the Iowa Dairy Industry

Abstract not currently available.

Changes in Retail Fertilizer Market Impact Producers

Major change in retail fertilizer markets over the past three years include price volatility and price increases. But, in addition to the unprecedented price volatility, basic changes in the trade practices at the manufacturing, wholesaling, and retail levels in the fertilizer value chain are affecting producers

Managing Coop Equity- Problems on the Horizon?

Cooperative patrons have come to expect great deal from their organizations. They not only expect their cooperative to provide competitive price and market access benefits but they also expect to receive financial returns in the form of cash patronage refunds and equity retirements. In many cases patrons maybe expecting more than can realistically be delivered. This is not news to many cooperative directors. They are continuously being confronted with requests from patrons for higher cash patronage payments,equity revolvement, better equipment and facilities,lower prices for inputs and higher bids for grain

Organizational Structures for Pork Production

The traditional pork production system in the upper midwest has been characterized by open markets for both inputs and outputs. In general, all parts of the production and marketing channel have responded to the collective effects of the individual production and marketing decisions made by hundreds of thousands of independent hog producers. The prices on the input and the output side of the channel have responded to the im coordinated decentralized decisions made at the production level. These open market prices acting through a broadly defined set of commodity grades have served as the primary coordination mechanism for all parts of the channel. See figure 1. This producer centered system has been the dominant means of production and marketing for hogs up to the present time. If the sheer number of hogs marketed is used as the measure, the open market price system still plays the major role in coordinating the industry, but rapid changes are now occurring

Changing Structure of the Pork Industry

Rapid changes are now occurring in the food system channel for livestock and livestock products. These changes (and thdr rapid pace) have created concern about the future structure of the livestock industry among both livestock producers and input suppliers. Much of the concern centers around trends toward contract production and vertical integration by large firms. A continuation of the present trends could result in both smallscale and larger independent producers, as we now know them, being elmiinated from the channel