USDA Promotes Green Products

The US Federal government is the largest purchaser of items in the world. And so how it operates can make a profound impact upon the environment and the economy.

One way the USDA is doing this is by purchasing and promoting items which come from renewable, agricultural, marine and forest products. And theese USDA's efforts help to improve the environment and stimulate the economy by reducing or eliminating oil-based products.

In this video report (windows media), the USDA highlights its efforts to reduce products made from foreign oil and oil in general and promote biobased products.

More information on the USDA BioPreferred program can be found HERE and HERE.

The USDA has a online catalog and a corn-based database is also available from the corn growers:

• USDA BioPrefered (sm) Bio Based Products Catalog
• NCGA Corn-based Products Guide

READ MORE

• Petroleum-based Plastic Bag Ban Begins
  
• Corn-based Water Bottles Offer a Solution
• Firelogs are Going Green
• Give Ethanol a Chance: The Case for Corn-based Ethanol

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It’s Time to Put Ag Water Use In Perspective

Jon Holzfaster of Paxton, NE is a farmer and also is the chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. And he has some pointed thoughts about reports assuming that corn growers are poor stewards of the land.

Jon has written and released an editorial, It’s Time to Put Ag Water Use In Perspective, this week that is worth reading. In it, he shares his thoughts on the use of water for raising corn.

His main point is to put the raising of corn in perspective and to share facts about water usage in corn growing. Some of his key points include:

• It is estimated that it may take around 1,750 gallons of water to produce a bushel of corn. That sounds like a lot, but did you know it takes 684,000 gallons of water per acre per year to irrigate a golf course? And that, on average, a homeowner uses 21,600 gallons to water his or her lawn each year?
  
• Nearly 40% of the corn acres in Nebraska are non-irrigated, relying solely on rainwater. Even on irrigated acres, only a portion of the water needed to raise corn is supplied by irrigation. Across the U.S., 86% of corn does not utilize irrigation.
• Irrigation efficiency has improved dramatically in the past 20 years.
  
• According the U.S. Geological Survey, an acre of corn gives off 3,000-4,000 gallons of water each day through transpiration.
• Our local Natural Resource Districts are doing a good job of monitoring water usage by irrigators. They are constantly checking water tables and many districts in the state have implemented ag water use limitations. Remember, we are just coming out of a seven-year drought. As rainfall returns to normal, water supplies will be replenished.
• Just what do we get in return for the water used to grow corn. A bushel of corn produces three gallons of ethanol and 18 pounds of distillers grains that can be fed to livestock. Or it can be used to make 68 boxes of cereal. Or it can be turned into 22.4 pounds of corn-based plastic, which is more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based plastic.

Jon notes that Grand Island, NE officials are investigating ways to lower the groundwater table under the city. One city official said Grand Island’s groundwater table is at its highest level in 23 years.

READ MORE

• Biofuels Beat Oil by Any Measure
  
• Biofuels Aren't the Problem
  
• Corn Growers Know Smart Farming Means Clean Water
• Grower Stewardship Leads to Clean Water
  

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Family Travels the Nation for Renewable Fuels

Labor Day in the US traditionally means the end of summertime activities. And for many returning school kids the annual question will be "What did you do on your summer vacation?". Well, for one Idaho family, the answer was to take a trip across the country in a biodiesel motorhome to bring awareness to clean, renewable energy like biodiesel and ethanol.

The Jenkins family of Nampa, Idaho set out for their one month summer vacation in a 2006 Gulfstream motorhome. Along the way, they stopped at energy fairs and research labs in their decorated motorhome. And they used clean-burning biodiesel to fuel their trip.

Read more about their trip and their mission to promote renewable energy at their website, getenergyaware.org

READ MORE

• Biofuels Beat Oil by Any Environmental Standard
• Renewable Fuels Helping to "Save the Bay"
  
• Renewable Fuels: From Farm to Fuel Pump
• Find Alternative Fuel Locations
  

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Corn Growers Jump on Demand

WTOC 11, Savannah Georgia, ran a report today that highlighted several key points regarding corn and ethanol. Some key points from their report are worth highlighting because they tell what others in the industry have known all along, that corn growers are meeting the new market demands for corn, ethanol helps to lower fuel prices and corn grower production methods are good for the environment:

• What farmers plant in the field could soon help you pay less at the fuel pump.
  

• When President Bush and others pushed for more ethanol made from corn, farmers planted corn in near record numbers this year.

• Besides the great price right now, farmers have another reason to grow more corn. The stalks, the leaves and the rest make good compost to put back in the ground for next year's crops.

• "They (livestock growers and ethanol manufacturers) don't like $4 corn. You know that's typical of agriculture," explained Bulloch County's UGA Extension Agent Pat Todd.
  

• What profit farmers get from corn this year helps offset years of losses. He guesses he and others will plant it as long as the price holds.

Source: WTOC 11, Savannah Georgia
balanced food and fuel ethanol energy security

Biofuels Beat Oil by Any Environmental Measure

The DesMoines Register recently ran a special section critical of the ethanol industry. The paper offered sensational "what if worse cases" and omitted the many benefits ethanol provides to the environment. Here's a good letter-to-editor which helped to explain their reporting omissions:

Biofuels Beat Oil by any Environmental Measure, June 24
Letter to the Editor

The members of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association were shocked and dismayed by the recent special section titled "How Biofuels Pollute" (June 3).

As producers of biodiesels we take pride in producing an environmentally friendly fuel in an environmentally sound manner. Yet, by highlighting isolated incidents and hypothesizing worst-case scenarios, the Register left readers with an impression that every gallon of biofuel production harms the environment. Quite the opposite is true.

Since no current or envisioned motor fuel is completely benign, there is really only one question to ask: Does the production and use of biodiesel and ethanol reduce the negative impact of petroleum products? The answer is a resounding yes.

Biofuel production uses less water, and biofuels are biodegradable. Biofuel production is much cleaner for the air, and biofuel use reduces particulate matter and smog-forming emissions. In addition to these clear environmental benefits, biofuels reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs and investment opportunities in rural America.

Governed by strict environmental regulations, the water discharged from biofuel plants is actually cleaner than when it entered the facility. Further, the discharged water is cleaner than the river or stream into which it is released.

The Register's portrayal of the biofuel industry in Iowa did a disservice to the leaders of the renewable-fuels industry. We should not turn a blind eye to concerns regarding the production and use of biofuels, but neither should we distort the positive role biofuels play in addressing some of our most pressing issues: energy security, economic development, clean air and water and global climate change.

While not a silver bullet, biodiesel and ethanol are clearly superior fuels to oil-derived products. As we continue to embrace biofuels, we embrace a cleaner, more secure future.

Monte Shaw
Executive Director
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association,
Johnston Iowa

Source: DesMoines Register
balanced food and fuel ethanol energy security biofuels biodiesel

New Technology Makes Fertilizer Less Dangerous

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's recent articles regarding farming contained many inaccurate, misleading and misrepresentations of modern farming and conservation practices. Here is yet another response to the Post-Dispatch.

New technology makes fertilizer less dangerous

The article "More ethanol, more corn, more fertilizer, more pollution" (June 10, 2007) misrepresents the role fertilizers play in food, fiber, feed and fuel production. While the increase in corn demand for ethanol production is indisputable, the negative consequences of these changes are not. Commercial fertilizers are the most manageable source of nutrients and as such are the best tool farmers have to maximize crop production while minimizing environmental impact.

In fact, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that U.S. farmers are using fertilizer nutrients with the greatest efficiency in history. Between 1980 and 2005, U.S. corn production increased by 74 percent. Meanwhile, farmers' use of nitrogen on corn over this period increased only 3 percent, while use of phosphate and potash fell 20 and 24 percent, respectively.

Nutrients removed by crops need to be replaced to maintain soil fertility. We strongly support using the right product and applying it at the right rate, right time and right place. Paired with efforts to use advanced fertilizer technologies, farmers indeed can meet our food and energy needs and protect the environment. What's more, we repeatedly have sought Agriculture Department backing for the use of advanced fertilizer technologies in conservation programs, but to date have received little support for encouraging farmer use of these products.

The North American fertilizer industry has a long history of partnering with farmers and the more than 13,000 Certified Crop Advisers to ensure maximum crop productivity, while protecting water quality, soil quality and the environment.

Kathleen Mathers | Washington, D.C.
Vice President of Public Affairs, The Fertilizer Institute

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

balanced food and fuel energy security conservation stewardship

Biofuels Aren't The Problem

You may recall that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article critical of Midwest farmers last week which contained misleading and inaccurate information. Here's but one who wrote to the Post-Dispatch to set the record straight:

Biofuels aren't the problem

The article "Dead zone persists as government drags its feet" (June 10) included a drastic picture titled "The Gulf's 'Dead Zone'." But the picture is not from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that measures and maps the hypoxia. The red zones on the official NOAA maps have been shrinking.

I expect this year hypoxia will increase because of an increase in water flowing down the Mississippi River and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers dumping millions and millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus in the river at Arrow Rock, Mo., to create a habitat for the pallid sturgeon. The last few years we have had an increase in biofuel acres with a decrease in hypoxia. So, apparently, biofuels are not the problem.

Bob Perry, | Bowling Green, Mo.

food and fuel ethanol energy security

Corn Growers Know Smart Farming Means Clean Water

Recently, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article highly critical of farmers. Filled with sensational headlines but short on real facts. Below is a response from one of those farmers who was interviewed.

Letter to the Editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 06/19/200

Corn growers know smart farming means clean water

I am one of the farmers who was interviewed by Bill Lambrecht for his story "More ethanol, more corn, more fertilizer, more pollution " (June 10) on ethanol and corn production. We spent a lot of time talking about the environmental benefits of new technologies and the way we farm today. I am extremely disappointed that it was all lost in the article.

Today, using conservation tillage, we leave more residue on the surface of the soil to protect it from wind and water erosion. I am building organic matter on my corn acres because of the plant material left in the field.

Facts show the dramatic reduction in inputs, including nitrogen, needed to grow a bushel of corn. Farmers have developed buffer and filter strips and use best management practices in field operations. The water in our rivers and lakes are cleaner because of this.

We have cut our fuel use per bushel of corn as well. We use half the fuel per bushel we did 10 years ago, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

Corn technology has helped me make my farm a better farm. My son and I represent six generations of farmers working this soil, and we are leaving the farm in better condition than we found it.

It is good to spend our energy dollars in the United States, and it starts right here in rural America. The other choice is to continue to send huge amounts of money to buy energy from hostile places. What is the cost of stationing the 6th Fleet and our soldiers in the Middle East?

We have opportunities to lower our dependence on foreign oil, and we need to pursue them as fast as we can. Corn to ethanol is not the complete answer but is the first step, and it is here now.

Leon Corzine | Assumption, Ill.

balanced food and fuel energy security ethanol

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Grower Stewardship Contributes to Clean Water

It's always amazing when critics of agriculture shoot first before stating the facts. "Maybe there's a problem, let's blame the farmers."

Public policy should be based upon facts and sound science, not ideology. So it's good to know that farmers are working to ensure their modern farming practices meet or exceed quality standards. Here's some more information on a recent report:

For years Missouri corn growers have been working hard to serve as good environmental stewards of the land they farm. Judging by the results of a recent study released by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR), consumers can feel secure knowing that groundwater pollution is not an issue.

The study, "Results of Monitoring Shallow Groundwater in Missouri for Four Agricultural Pesticides," consisted of taking a total of 351 samples from 190 wells around the state and testing each sample for eight different pesticides. Of the wells analyzed, 98 percent reported no pesticides. Only four wells tested positive, yet those levels were still below the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standards for safe drinking water.

"Farmers are being good stewards of the land," says Gary Marshall, chief executive officer with the Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA). "They are lowering the usage of pesticides, utilizing safe bio-technology products, and closely managing their nutrient and pesticide uses to make sure they stay in the fields."

Source: MO Corn Growers Association

Corn Growers Conserve the Environment

Corn Growers support stewardship and conservation practices:

Corn growers’ stewardship efforts are enhanced through conservation programs and to continue the environmental gains producers have made, there must be a greater emphasis on working lands conservation programs, said the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to the Senate Agriculture Committee.

NCGA submitted written comments to the committee, which held a conservation hearing Tuesday to review policy recommendations for the 2007 farm bill.

“We are eager to work with Congress and the administration in the months ahead in order to develop a farm bill that ensures United States agriculture is stronger than ever,” said Ken McCauley, NCGA president. “Developing a strong and usable conservation title is important to corn growers. Our industry has made strides over the years to balance conservation needs and production agriculture."

McCauley noted that the advancement in corn production technologies over the last 70 years have led to a decrease in acres under cultivation and an increase in the number of bushels produced. He also cited modern agriculture and improvements in production efficiencies have lessened the environmental impact of food production.

NCGA’s also highlighted reduced soil erosion, improved water quality and increased wildlife habitat as environmental gains corn growers continue to make through the use of the farm bill conservation programs.

Source: National Corn Growers Association