The grain is first crushed and fermented, followed by as many as three distillation steps. Are biofuels everything they're cracked up to be? Following the president's proposal, we would need 35 billion gallons of fuel if corn remains the primary source. n The exorbitant price of farm land has risen to a point where new farmers wanting to grow crops other than those for biofuel are squeezed out of the market. Since 70 percent of the corn grown is fed to livestock and poultry, this means...

While August s torrential rains left many flooded corn and soybean fields in their wake, the total impact may not become evident until harvest or even next spring. There are a lot of concerns about nitrogen losses, erosion problems, soil compaction and crop diseases, and we re going to have to wait and see what happens, said Mark Licht, a Carroll-based Iowa State University Extension field agronomist who conducted a crop scouting workshop in Rockwell City on Aug. There are a lot of...

Corn growers in Argentina, the world's second-largest exporter of the cereal, plan to boost planted acreage by 14 percent this year for next year's harvest, according to the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange. Soybeans are the largest foreign revenue earner in Argentina, which shipped about $9 billion worth of soybeans and soybean products last year. Aranguren said Shell will have seven to eight days of diesel oil supplies left after the government blocked new unrefined fuel shipments to its...

In 2004, Grissett and his son, like many tobacco farmers in the region, took their portion of the $12 billion tobacco quotas buyout and chose to stop growing the crop after the federal government cut the subsidy program that set market prices and production controls for decades. In 2004, Grissett and his son, like many tobacco farmers in the region, took their portion of the $12 billion tobacco quotas buyout and chose to stop growing the crop after the federal government cut the subsidy...

DM&E merger opens new markets for ag products By Peter Harriman pharrima@argusleader.com Published: September 9, 2007 For farmers and ethanol producers in South Dakota, a map of the merged Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad and the Canadian Pacific Railway offers as much promise as a Christmas catalogue - in three directions. DM&E merger opens new markets for ag products By Peter Harriman pharrima@argusleader.com Published: September 9, 2007 For farmers and ethanol producers in South...