efficiency

We continuously evaluate current performance and improve upon our daily operations. By streamlining our processes, we’re able to produce more while utilizing the same resources.

How many products can be squeezed out of a single kernel of corn? Our folks in the ethanol area are up to five and counting. The plants have been producing ethanol for gasoline blenders and distillers dried grains, a high-protein animal feed, for livestock owners for upwards of five years. We then began considering ancillary products that could come from essentially the same process. Now, corn oil is flowing to customers for use in animal feeds, as well as biodiesel and industrial products. At the same time, the facilities are blending E-85 and marketing it directly to retailers, increasing the availability of the lower-priced fuel to flex fuel vehicle owners. And the carbon dioxide (CO₂) released during the fermentation process at two of the facilities is being captured and recycled by a partner that converts it to liquefied CO₂ for the manufacturing of dry ice and a wide variety of other applications. Add to that, the plants’ efficiency has improved resulting in more ethanol produced, and more corn moving through the process. And while that’s good for us, it is also beneficial to area corn growers to have an even more dependable, solid market to sell their corn.