Iowa's real election winners are farmers and energy
Since 2006, Iowans have saved over $15 billion on their direct expenses for natural gas as a result of increased American energy production.
TO READERS: This essay has been updated to reflect the correct ratio for nitrogen required by corn: about one pound of nitrogen removed by one bushel of corn.
Our farmers use energy. In fact, they use a lot of it. Direct energy expenses for Iowa’s farmers include diesel, gasoline, propane, and electricity, and they cost more than $1 billion annually. Some of this energy, however, is used to further diversify America’s access to fuel security by transforming corn into ethanol.
In Iowa, ethanol is made primarily from corn, with about half of our crop being used each year to feed our 42 ethanol plants capable of producing over 4.1 billion gallons, the most in the nation.
The journey from seed to ethanol doesn’t happen magically, as some groups might suggest.
As any farmer knows, corn is one of the most nitrogen-intensive crops which can be grown. Each growth stage requires nitrogen in varying amounts. The math is simple: a bushel of corn typically removes a pound of nitrogen from the soil. To make the math work, natural or residual nitrogen is supplemented by fertilizer.
As much as two-thirds of the cost of fertilizer is dependent on the price of natural gas, or as much as $60 per acre. With the USDA estimating 14 million acres of corn being grown this year, the indirect cost of natural gas for our farmers could reach as high as $843 million.
Once the corn is harvested, it must be dried before the dry milling process can begin. Propane or natural gas is utilized to heat the air with electricity running large fans to push the air through the grain until the correct moisture level is reached. After being dried, the corn can either be stored in silos or taken directly to the ethanol plant.
At the ethanol plant, the dried corn is milled into meal and mixed with water to form mash. The mash is then heated with natural gas which begins the process of turning corn into ethanol. It takes a large amount of natural gas to produce the heat that makes it all happen, which is why it is the second-largest expense at most ethanol plants.
With all of the oil and natural gas necessary to keep Iowa’s farms and ethanol plants operating, we’re thankful that Iowa has fighters like Sen. Joni Ernst protecting Iowa’s farmers and ethanol industry.
Criticisms that oil and gas companies and farmers are at odds over ethanol ignore the underlying truth that they are interdependent industries, particularly because of the role of natural gas in ethanol production. Affordable and reliable natural gas is essential to crop and ethanol production, so supporting traditional energy is intertwined with supporting ethanol and farmers.
Since 2006, Iowans have saved over $15 billion on their direct expenses for natural gas as a result of increased American energy production. That is $15 billion that has supported our state’s economy, lessening the burden on our family farmers, and making our ethanol cost-competitive.
Chris Ventura is Midwest Director of the Consumer Energy Alliance, a U.S. consumer advocate supporting affordable, reliable energy for working families, seniors, and businesses across the country.