Contact: Joshua Morby 414.791.9120
MILWAUKEE – Six Wisconsin ethanol producers signed on to a letter this morning asking for support from the US Department of Agriculture to correct its monthly reporting on corn demand for ethanol to more accurately reflect the actual amount of corn that is used to produce the fuel.
“The problem is that when the USDA report says that X bushels of corn are used for ethanol production, in reality more than one third of those bushels are resold as distillers grains, which are used as feed,” said Joshua Morby, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance.
“By not reporting this, the USDA is not accurately presenting the amount of corn that is converted directly into ethanol, but rather inflating the amount by including co-products in the overall demand figures.”
The WBIA and their members are working with elected officials from both political parties, the Wisconsin Congressional delegation, and the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition, of which Governor Scott Walker is a member, to change this reporting process and better educate the people of Wisconsin about the value of Wisconsin’s billion-dollar biofuel industry.
“Ethanol has never been about food vs. fuel,” said Morby. “It’s about food and fuel.”
For a copy of the letter, please visit http://www.wisconsinbioindustry.com/letter-to-secretary-vilsack-on-usda-corn-demand-reporting.
The Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance is a diverse group of businesses, environmental groups and statewide and local organizations that have come together to build both public and legislative awareness of the Bio Industry in Wisconsin.
For more information about the Alliance, or to find out how to join, please visit our website: http://www.wisconsinbioindustry.com.
