Robert Pore's Ag Blog

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2006- Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that ten additional USDA personnel will be dispatched to assist Iraq in revitalizing its agricultural sector.

"I am truly inspired by the hope and optimism that I witnessed in Iraq. The Iraqi leaders and producers are absolutely determined to overcome the hurdles in achieving self-sufficiency and a strong economy," said Johanns. "USDA stands ready to expand our assistance as we support and applaud the efforts in Iraq."

Four agricultural advisors from USDA will assist the Government of Iraq with the development of new agricultural policies and programs. Six additional USDA employees will be selected to participate in Provincial Reconstruction Teams that work at the local level in communities throughout Iraq.

While in Baghdad yesterday, Johanns signed a joint statement of intent with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Salam Zukam Ali Al-Zawba'i to strengthen and broaden Iraq's agricultural extension system and universities through partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi universities.

Under U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsorship, this program is designed to match U.S. colleges and universities with Iraqi agricultural universities to conduct joint agricultural projects and provide training for Iraqi faculty members. Possible areas of technical cooperation include production of wheat, barley, rice, fruits, vegetables, sheep and goats, animal health initiatives, and water resources management.

This initiative builds on other U.S. efforts over the past three years to help Iraq rebuild its agriculture sector, which is the second largest contributor to the economy behind oil and it has the greatest potential to provide jobs in Iraq. These efforts include private sector development, livestock and crop improvement, market development and water management. USDA is providing training to Iraqis under a fellowship program that teaches market-driven food system principles, providing $10 million in food aid (Food for Progress agreement with US Grains Council).

Overall, the U.S. Government has provided broad assistance, including projects such as; the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure reaching nearly a half million rural Iraq residents, the availability of 31 tons of cleaned and treated wheat seed, and the reconstruction of nearly 70 veterinary clinics serving more than 100-thousand Iraqi animal breeders.

The Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce’s Ag Committee will host an ethanol forum on Aug. 30 at College Park in Grand Island.

The forum will run from 1 to 4 p.m.

It will give a general background on the nation’s growing bio-economy and how renewable fuels, such as ethanol soy biodiesel, are a big part of that economy.

The forum will also focus on genetic advances in crop varieties designed to enhance biofuel production.

Another area the forum will explore is the connection between Nebraska’s biofuel industry and its livestock industry. Ethanol plants provide big advantages to livestock operations with the distiller’s grain byproduct.

The forum will feature experts from Iowa State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Pioneer Seed.

CENTRAL CITY — As soaring fossil fuel costs impact the nation’s economy, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee will get a firsthand view of Nebraska’s booming alternative energy industry.

Committee members will tour the Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol Plant in Central City in conjunction with a scheduled committee hearing on Aug. 16 in Grand Island.
Hosting the hearing and the ethanol plant tour will be U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. Nelson is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Nelson said the ethanol plant tour will show committee members the need to build the nation’s alternative energy industry.

The ag committee hearing will focus on the next farm bill. Nelson would like the farm bill to put a heavy emphasis on alternative energy sources, such as ethanol and soy biodiesel.

Nelson said Nebraska is among the nation’s ethanol production leaders.

“With gas and oil prices hovering at near-record prices, I want the policy experts and senators to see firsthand how one plant near a small Nebraska town can take 15 million bushels of corn, turn it into 40 million gallons of ethanol and in so doing contribute to America’s energy security and help out their community,” Nelson said.

He is inviting the visiting members of the committee, Nebraska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Dave Heineman to take part in the tour.

“We are extremely honored by this opportunity to showcase our plant to members of the Senate Agriculture Committee as they develop policies that will affect ethanol production for years to come,” said Cliff Mesner, a member of the board of directors of Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol LLC.

Mesner said Nelson has done much to promote ethanol not only in Nebraska but nationally.

“We hope to help him showcase ethanol’s economic and energy security benefits,” he said.

The Central City plant is one of 12 ethanol plants in Nebraska, and more are being planned. Total ethanol production in Nebraska is more than 550 million gallons per year.

When Nelson became governor in 1990, Nebraska had only one ethanol plant, producing 100 million gallons a year.

Nationwide, there are 101 ethanol biorefineries with the capacity to produce more than 4.8 billion gallons annually. There are 36 ethanol refineries and seven expansions under construction, with a combined annual capacity of more than 2.5 billion gallons.

On Tuesday, the Renewable Fuels Association said U.S. ethanol production increased in May to 293,000 barrels per day. That is an increase of more than 56,000 barrels per day from May 2005. Additionally, demand for ethanol rose in May, setting a record at 349,000 barrels per day.

According to RFA President Bob Dinneen, a decline in imports from April to May explains much of the “distressed” situation ethanol officials have seen in the spot market for ethanol in recent weeks.

“Imports from countries like Brazil were late arriving and caused some to become unnecessarily nervous about ethanol supplies,” Dinneen said. “Fortunately, the U.S. ethanol industry has grown and continues to grow at a pace sufficient to meet surging demand for this cleaner-burning, domestically produced renewable fuel.”

As research is fining new and better ways of producing ethanol, Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., is hosting a forum to up date people on ethanol’s future opportunities.
The forum, “Emerging Technologies in Ethanol,” will be Aug. 8 in Kearney.

Osborne said Nebraska is a leader in ethanol production and well positioned to be a leader in the future of ethanol production using emerging technologies.

He said the forum will address diverse topics, including cellulosic ethanol.

“This technology has the potential to lead the industry into the next generation of ethanol production,” Osborne said.

The forum will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 8 in the Ponderosa Room of the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Nebraskan Student Union.

Invited speakers are Bob Walker of Bixby Energy Systems; Mark Gaalswyk of Easy Automation Inc.; Maurice Hlakic of Iogen Inc.; Anna Rath of Ceres Inc.; Al Christopherson of the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute; and U.S. Department of Agriculture and University of Nebraska representatives.

While new technology will make biofuel production even more productive and diverse in its feed sources, political attacks on ethanol as an alternative fuel continue to mount.

In the wake of new reports of record profits by international oil companies, a recent study by the National Taxpayers Union released earlier this month attacks the burgeoning industry as too dependent on government handouts.
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) cautions consumers to not take this information at face value.

“The only thing abundantly clear is that NTU’s ‘study’ is nothing more than a deceptive piece of propaganda with no basis in reality,” said Brian Jennings, ACE executive vice president.

He said with modest support from the federal government, ethanol offers an excellent return on investment, with a host of benefits to our nation’s economy, environment, and energy security.

“These facts were somehow left out of the NTU report,” Jennings said.
He said the study especially attacks the Blender’s Tax Credit, the federal tax incentive on ethanol.

Jennings said NTU incorrectly states that this tax credit goes to ethanol producers, when in reality it is an incentive the petroleum industry receives for blending ethanol into its gasoline.

“The Blender’s Tax Credit is one of the most cost-effective and consumer-friendly policies ever enacted by Congress, because it is typically passed on to motorists in the form of lower prices at the pump,” he said. “Removing this incentive, which is what NTU appears to be advocating, doesn’t seem like good tax policy for working families who are already experiencing too much pain at the pump due to record-high oil prices.”

Jennings said the NTU study doesn’t suggest any alternatives to ethanol or look at the generous incentives the petroleum industry has received for decades.
“Ethanol is a clear, immediate way for the U.S. to begin weaning itself off of expensive foreign energy,” he said. “If we can begin to move toward energy independence by using ethanol — a homegrown alternative that puts our citizens to work, adds value to American ag products, and cleans our environment — this is something NTU should advocate, not attack.”

Some facts about ethanol:
‰ Today the United States is home to more than 100 ethanol biorefineries, of which about half are owned by farmers and other local investors. The U.S. ethanol industry is very diverse, not owned or controlled by one single company.
‰ There are more than 30 ethanol plants under construction, putting the industry at a growth rate of more than two facilities a month. This is in contrast to the oil industry, which hasn’t built a new gasoline refinery in 30 years.
‰ U.S. farmers benefit from ethanol production through increased demand, which leads to a stronger price for their crops. Better market-based prices mean less need for government price supports.
‰ Ethanol is now blended into more than 40 percent of America’s gasoline, displacing expensive oil and gasoline with a homegrown, clean-burning alternative.

Source: American Coalition for Ethanol

Both of Nebraska’s U.S. senators voted Tuesday for legislation expanding domestic energy supplies.

The Senate approved legislation to open 8.3 million acres of federal waters in the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 71-25. It now must be reconciled with much broader drilling legislation passed by the House in June. Those negotiations are likely to begin in September.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said the legislation will help increase domestic production of natural gas.

He said that will help farmers who have had to struggle with dramatic price increases in fertilizer in recent years because of natural gas shortages.
Natural gas is estimated to account for 70 to 90 percent of the cost of producing fertilizer.

“Expanding the domestic production of natural gas in the Gulf not only holds hope for America’s energy security but also Nebraska’s agricultural producers,” said Nelson.

Increased production of natural gas is a tremendous relief for farmers and ranchers, directly affecting their fertilizer prices and supply in the next few years, said Bob Anderson, president of Nebraska Agri-Business Association.

“I is a much-needed change for the first time in 20 years,” Anderson said.

He said in recent years, 17 United States production plants for nitrogen fertilizer have permanently closed directly as a result of the rise in natural gas prices and an additional three plants are currently idle.

“As a result, U.S. nitrogen ammonia fell by more than 6 million tons or 34 percent in only five years, and U.S.-based production now relies on imports for more than 50 percent of nitrogen supplies,” he said.

According to a preliminary CBO analysis, the expansion will result in a net revenue gain of $926 million for the federal government.

Nelson said drilling already exists in the region and the existing extraction and transportation infrastructure already in place could result in more immediate production than other proposals.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said it is estimated that area covered by the Senate bill contains 1.26 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Hagel was a co-sponsor of the bill.

Hagel called the bill “common sense” legislation that has been long overdue, creating a dependency on other countries for U.S. energy needs.
“This has left us dependent on other nations in the most unstable parts of the world for our energy supply,” he said. “This bill is a responsible step toward expanding our domestic energy production.”

He said about 2.5 million acres of the 8.3 million acres will be opened within one year of the passage of this bill.

It would also place a moratorium on an area 125 miles from the west coast of Florida until 2022.

Hagel said the moratorium would not only protect the coastlines of Florida, but also preserve a strategic military training area in the Gulf of Mexico.

The legislation establishes a revenue sharing program with the Gulf Coast states affected by the drilling. The revenue will be used to strengthen and protect coastal wetlands that are necessary to minimize damage from hurricanes and also enrich the Land and Water Conservation Fund that is distributed to all 50 states.

Agricultural Research Service has wind power

By ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Don Comis, (301) 504-1625, donald.comis@ars.usda.gov
August 2, 2006
--View this report online, plus any included photos or other images, at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________

Texas has moved into first place in the United States for wind power production, with help from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The research agency also has helped Minnesota become one of the top 10 wind-powered states in the country.

Nolan Clark oversees the wind power research done by engineers in the ARS Renewable Energy and Manure Management Research Unit at Bushland, Texas, while Abdullah Jaradat oversees wind research at the ARS North Central Soil Conservation Laboratory in Morris, Minn.

At Bushland, ARS scientists built a computer system that seamlessly links wind power with a diesel generator and solar power. This hybrid system switches as needed between power sources without interruption in providing electricity to the power grid.

The Texas scientists are working with the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative to bring this system--minus the solar power--to Arctic towns such as Selawik, Kotzebue and Toksook. There are now about a dozen villages using the hybrid system, and more on the way.

The Bushland unit operates larger, airplane-size, three-blade turbines for wind-farm research for the U.S. Department of Energy. They have also tested small wind turbines to power irrigation pumps and water pumps in remote rangeland areas to provide water for livestock.

The Minnesota researchers are working with the University of Minnesota to power the Morris campus with wind-generated electricity. The Morris campus, which already gets about 60 percent of its electricity from wind, hopes to eventually "ship" enough excess electricity to the main university campus at St. Paul to meet 20 percent of that campus’ energy needs.

There are also plans to eventually use wind power to generate hydrogen from water to provide electricity for the two campuses.

Steve Wagner, an ARS electrical engineer at Morris, and colleagues have created wind maps that show many other areas in Minnesota suitable for farming the wind.

Read more about the research in the August 2006 issue of Agricultural Research magazine, available online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug06/energy0806.htm

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency.