August 4, 2006

 

New ethanol plant in North Dakota to boost corn production in region

 

 

The recently announced Yellowstone Ethanol Plant which will be located southwest of Williston, is expected to be an incentive for area farmers to include corn in their rotations.

 

The US$120 million plant is expected to use from 18 to 20 million bushels of corn each year and will be able to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.

 

The availability of a local market for corn is expected to rapidly increase the corn acreage in the area, said Mark Erickson, president of Charmark International, the lead consultant company on the project.

 

New varieties of corn are also bringing frost and drought tolerance resistance, which would make corn growing even more successful in the region, he said.

 

Area farmers are reportedly excited about the prospect of having a local market for corn and the opportunity to add another cash crop into their rotations.

 

Project developers estimate the plant would create a market for 100,000 to 200,000 acres of dry land and irrigated corn in the region.

 

Meanwhile, the plant has its own rail facilities to handle corn supplies from other regions should there be a poor corn crop locally.

 

The plant would also benefit the region's livestock industry by supplying enough distillers grains to provide supplemental feed for up to 250,000 feeder cattle.

 

Board president Bob Gannaway said the new plant would make use of highly efficient technology that would produce more ethanol than existing competition.

 

The plant also has access technology that would allow it to use coal to dry corn so that corn can be harvested earlier with a higher moisture content. The plant would also allow the company to use up to two million bushels a year of barley or wheat, thus allowing additional flexibility, Gannaway said.

 

Even though it is far from the traditional Corn Belt, the plant's proximity to west coast markets for ethanol gives it an advantage over the Corn Belt plants, according to Frank Kirschenheiter, the CEO of Charmark.

 

No ground breaking date for the plant has been announced, since the financial package, environmental permits and other details first need to be arranged.