Colorado Corn

National Corn Growers President Addresses Des Moines Leadership Network

DES MOINES, Iowa (September. 17, 2008) – The role alternative energy sources play in reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and reducing pain at the gas pump are hot button topics this election season. In 2008 alone, ethanol production in the United States is credited with displacing the equivalent of 52 large oil tankers filled with imported crude and helping reduce gas prices.

“Increased use of corn-based ethanol is meeting the growing demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel,” said Ron Litterer, president of the National Corn Growers Association. “Last year the ethanol industry added more than $47 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product. It is essential to consider corn ethanol as part of a broad and diverse solution to our nation’s energy challenges.”

In a speech before the Des Moines Leadership Network tomorrow, Litterer will explain that U.S. corn growers are working towards a common vision to produce 15 billion bushels of corn and provide 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015. This is in addition to corn produced for food and livestock markets. The industry expects to yield in excess of 12 billion bushels of corn this fall, a portion going to the production of 9 billion gallons of ethanol.

For every barrel of ethanol that is produced, 1.2 barrels of petroleum are replaced. Ethanol also impacts drivers by helping moderate the cost of gasoline. A commodity strategist for Merrill Lynch recently estimated that expanding biofuel production has helped reduce the price of gas by 15 percent.

“By using ethanol to keep gas prices 15 percent lower, U.S. consumers save approximately $70 billion at the pump each year,” Litterer noted. “America is at the beginning of a new era of energy that is looking beyond fossil fuels and beyond imported fuels, and U.S. corn growers are excited to be a part of this transition.”