Ethanol's Tough Times Continue

It doesn't look like the ethanol industry is going to get relief from its pain any time soon, according to a panel of investors at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference in Redwood City, Calif., earlier this week.

The industry has seen margins shrink and stock prices fall, and companies such as VeraSun have pulled back on plans to increase their ethanol production.

When it comes to corn-based ethanol in the United Sates, "government and corporate support are being largely dictated by congressmen and senators from Iowa versus true scientists," he said. Iowa is one of the largest produces of ethanol in the country.

Ethanol doesn't make sense in many cases and fails to address numerous problems that the fuel is supposed to help solve, he said.

Among the biggest hopes for U.S.-produced ethanol is its ability to curb the country's dependence on foreign oil. President George W. Bush has supported such efforts, calling for 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017.

Jason Berkes

Federal and state wildland fire experts jointly respond to Southern California Wildfires

"I spoke with Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday and I am pleased that we can help California by lending our firefighters, equipment and aircraft which are the backbone for combating devastating wildfires," said Conner. "Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this disaster and we will continue to dedicate all available resources to contain these fires."

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Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner today announced that additional Incident Management Teams are en route to Southern California to assist with containing the rapidly spreading wildfires. These teams are comprised of specialists from eight state and federal agencies who routinely work together in responding to disaster and wildfire emergencies.

More than 2,000 members of the interagency wildland firefighting community mobilized through the National Interagency Coordination Center are engaged in a wide range of wildfire response efforts to several fires in Southern California. Requests for assistance through the National Interagency Fire Center began on Oct. 21 and firefighters and incident management teams were mobilized from across the country. These professionals come from across the spectrum of federal, state and local wildland fire organizations.

"California's tremendous firefighters are not alone in fighting these fires," said Kempthorne. "The federal government, through the National Interagency Fire Center, has responded to all requests for assistance made by the State of California. Last night, I assured Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Feinstein and other California leaders that the federal family stands ready to offer additional assistance if requested."

Jason Berkes

www.jasonberkes.com/usda

Upstate New York to receive greatest share of investment

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bank of America and Rural Opportunities, Inc. (ROI) today announced Bank of America has made a $5 million investment to provide much-needed financing to small and micro businesses across New York state.

The announcement was made today during ROI's 38th Annual Community Luncheon at the Crowne Plaza in Rochester, N.Y. About 300 people attended the luncheon.

"This is precisely the type of financing that will give a boost to small business enterprises in New York state. I am very grateful to Bank of America for again leading the way in this critical area and I am so pleased that they are partnering with ROI," Senator Clinton, D-N.Y., said in advance of the announcement. "We have to remind ourselves that 65 percent of all New York businesses are small and employ four or fewer employees. ROI staff are experts in working with small business in the state and have successfully provided management training, technical assistance and financing to hundreds of these companies."

ROI, based in Rochester, operates community development programs in seven states and Puerto Rico. ROI established The Enterprise Center in 1997 to enhance the economic self-sufficiency and quality of life of individuals and communities through entrepreneurial training, technical assistance and access to financing for new and expanding businesses.

Jason Berkes

Who should be the next president of the United States?

Farming Faces Phosphate Shortfall

A salt of phosphoric acid salt, phosphate is a chemical compound made up of a central phosphorous atom and four oxygen atoms.

Phosphorous is a "finite and irreplaceable" mineral, whose known reserves that are economically viable for exploitation could run out in 60 to 100 years if the current pace of global consumption continues, Euripedes Malavolta, veteran agronomist and researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told Tierramérica.

"Without phosphorous there will be no agriculture, nor biofuels, nor life. Humanity will end," he said. Other minerals, like nitrogen, potassium, cobalt, magnesium and molybdenum, are also essential, but their sources are not as limited and, except for the first two, their consumption is relatively low.

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"Phosphate has the risk running out before petroleum does," José Oswaldo Siqueira, professor of soil microbiology at the Federal University of Lavras, told a bio-energy conference held last month in Sao Paulo.

Strong expansion of agriculture for bio-energy purposes would accelerate depletion of phosphate, which is a fact to consider in any "strategic vision" for that sector, he said in a Tierramérica interview.

Jason Berkes

Monsanto shows how high-tech farming has become

The Monsanto agricultural company brought its seed genetics know-how to the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in a display on a tractor-trailer rig.

The research done on the major crops also can be used to help develop and make improvements to smaller crops, Burton said. Its work is designed to improve the genetic buildup of crops while still keeping the look, feel and taste of them the same.

Burton said the company spends about $2 million each day on seed research, and introducing new products takes anywhere from eight to 10 years of research. Unlike other companies who also work to develop better seeds, Monsanto’s only project is agriculture, he said.

“Monsanto is focused only on agriculture,” Burton said. “Our success is dependent on farmer’s success.”

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Major developments Monsanto has been able to introduce in recent years are seeds and plants that are more resistant to insects, Burton said. Using products such as Bollgard II cotton seeds, farmers have gone from having to spray pesticides as many as 14 times per year some 12 years ago to spraying only two or three times per year now. Reduced spraying, of course, adds to the profit line.

Seed development is a continuing goal to improve farmers’ yields and better plant production, Burton said. Monsanto is about four years away from being able to bring drought-resistant corn to the market, he added.

Jason Berkes

www.jasonberkes.com/usda