Ethanol Plant the Topic of Farmers’ Meeting
By Steve Cahalan, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Mar. 15–Several Coulee Region farmers will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Log Cabin in Bangor, Wis., to gauge potential farmer and investor interest in forming a company to build and operate an ethanol plant.
“It would definitely help” area corn prices, said one of the farmers, Tim Goodenough, who lives in West Salem and farms near Mindoro, Wis
An ethanol plant probably would employ 35 to 40 people, he said, and might cost about $50 million. Goodenough said the core group of a half-dozen farmers who have been talking about an ethanol plant have a site in mind, but he declined to identify it.
Goodenough and Sparta City Administrator Ken Witt said Tuesday they were among 40 to 50 area people who visited the Pro-Corn ethanol plant in Preston, Minn., on Feb. 21.
“It’s a good project for the Coulee Region,” Witt said of an ethanol plant. “Sparta would be a nice location for it. I would hope they would locate it here. But anyplace in the region will benefit the farmers.” Sparta has been offering free land to prospective businesses.
Ethanol production requires a large amount of water, which is available in Sparta, Witt said. He added he can envision an ethanol plant on the edge of Sparta.
“We just started talking,” Goodenough said of the core group of farmers who have been discussing a possible ethanol plant.
They figured that with national interest in renewable energy increasing, “Let’s get involved and help create more opportunity for grain sales for the farmer,” Goodenough said. They also like the idea of creating jobs in the area, he said.
Goodenough said he would prefer to see farmers own 50 percent to 60 percent of the new company, with investors owning the rest.
An ethanol plant might draw corn from within a 50- to 75-mile radius, Goodenough said.
The plant’s size is still being discussed. Annual production might range anywhere from 40 million gallons to 100 million gallons, Goodenough said.
Livestock producers as well as corn growers are being invited to Monday’s meeting, because the corn byproduct that results from ethanol production can be fed to livestock.
IF YOU GO
What: A public meeting on the possibility of creating a company to build and operate an ethanol plant in the Coulee Region.
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: The Log Cabin, N4697 State Road 162, Bangor, Wis.
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