Ethanol Industry Can Utilize Low Test Weight Corn

"The ethanol industry will prove to be what carries the corn farmer through this year," says Dave Vander Griend. Vander Griend is President and CEO of ICM, Inc., one of the nation's leading developers of the ethanol industry. He spoke exclusively to Farm Futures about the widespread problem of low test weight corn across much of the Midwest following a freeze that ended the growing season for this year's late-maturing corn.

"We can utilize the crop," says Vander Griend. "A lot of people don't want it, which means that it will be discounted. Many people in the industry haven't been through this before, but I've been around long enough to have lived through it before and know that it can work. Ethanol plants can usually beat the price of the other discounts being offered and make use of it. I've been through this before. It's a great opportunity for ethanol plants to help the farmer while also benefiting their bottom-line."

This year's corn crop was planted at near a record slow pace due to persistent rains last spring. The coldest July on record for many Midwestern states added to the crop's maturity delays. The corn simply shut down as temperatures dropped this fall, rather than moving through its normal maturing process. The result was low test weight corn, which exporters and some livestock producers shun.

Vander Griend emphasizes that it's important for farmers to talk to their local processor now. Discuss with them the best way to harvest, store and deliver the corn to best preserve its remaining quality. Corn with molds and mycotoxin issues must also be dealt with differently as it tends to impact the quality of dried distillers grains and solubles coming out the other end.