Ethanol Creates Business Opportunities for U.S. Corn Growers

The United States stands on the brink of a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The legislation currently in Congress would require the use of 5-billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2012. The RFS would utilize more than 2 billion bushels of the U.S. corn crop, a 1.3-billion-bushel increase over present production. Yet, even without an RFS, the ethanol market has the potential to expand by an additional 3 to 4 billion gallons due to the reformulated gasoline program passed by Congress in 1995.

As investments in farmer-owned ethanol co-ops and higher grain prices generate new income, farmers could receive an extra $6.6 billion of net cash income over the next 15 years, helping to revitalize rural economies. Farmer-owned cooperatives are responsible for 50 percent of the new production capacity in the United States. The Renewable Fuels Association estimates ethanol provides more than 200,000 U.S. jobs annually. The RFS would create an additional 214,000 skilled jobs across the country.