Mike Adams, host of AgriTalk, hosted a panel discussion on Bio fuels, Wednesday, November 15, at the Forum. The session was broadcast live on AgriTalk through 70 stations in 20 states and on the AgriTalk web site. Panel members included: Richard Hahn, former president and CEO of Farmers National Company; Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association; Kendell Keith, president of the National Feed and Grain Association; and Neil Dierks, CEO of the National Pork Producers Council.

Each panel member described their background and what they are presently doing in the area of bio fuels. The panel presented and dispelled myths about bio fuels including: ethanol causing a supply demand imbalance; ethanol diverts corn away from food markets; ethanol causes unprecedented corn prices; and ethanol takes more energy.

According to Rick Tolman, “Bio fuels have been and will continue to fuel the bio fuels industry bringing new dynamics, new excitement, and new energy for every aspect of agriculture.”

Tolman described NCGA’s vision of 15x15x15 which means by 2015 they hope to produce 15 billion bushels of corn which allows them to produce 15 billion gallons of ethanol and still meet the food and feed needs. This will be a 50% increase in corn production from 2006 and a tripling in the amount of ethanol produced.

Richard Hahn has a similar program called 25×25. This program hopes to supply 25% of our energy needs by the year 2025, which includes more than just ethanol, but also wind energy. Hahn also sees a little softening in land values and sees a renewed interest in buying land for corn production.

The National Pork Producers Council is supportive of renewable fuels. However, Pork Producers are very concerned about the prices of corn going up. Neil Dierks says that the U.S. needs to remain the world’s reliable supplier of safe, high quality food and grains.

Kendell Keith says that ethanol is growing rapidly. Keith says it is estimated that 8.9 billion bushels of corn will be going into ethanol production by 2009. The USDA estimated at the beginning of 2006 that 1.9 billion bushels of corn would be going into ethanol production for 2006-2007. Now it’s estimated that there will be 2.2 billion bushels in production.

Keith also stated that Biofuels are increasing much more quickly than what we thought. “There’s going to be a lot bigger impact on ag than we envisioned a year ago,” said Keith. “Faster investments can be mistake-prone and can cause disinvestments in existing infrastructure that is unnecessary.”

Critics may disagree on the long term ability for agriculture to satisfy the demand. However, they do agree that something must be done to reduce dependency on petroleum and increase the use of fuels from renewable resources.

Special thanks to Padilla Speer Beardsley/Adculture Group for sponsoring this session.