2/1/13, Macon, MO Corn Ethanol Plant Will Suspend Operations - Drought Means Not Enough Corn

[hatrack]

ST. LOUIS (AP) A central Missouri ethanol plant is suspending production effective Feb. 1, saying the extended drought has made it virtually impossible to get enough corn to make the fuel.

POET Biorefining said Friday that its plant in Macon, will remain open and all 44 employees will keep working, spending their time doing maintenance-related work.

Spokesman Matt Merritt says there is simply not enough local corn to keep making ethanol at the plant, and shipping in corn from elsewhere is too expensive. Missouri has been hit hard by the drought that has dragged on for months.

Merritt says POET will continue to purchase corn for future use when it becomes available. There is no timetable for resuming production.

EDIT

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/01/26/drought-forces-missouri-ethanol-plant-to-suspend-production/

[DollarBillHines]

1. Aren't a lot of those plants co-ops?

I recall hearing that a lot of ethanol plants are owned by co-ops of local farmers who planned on making two profits on their product. The * admin set up an abatement program for this. The negatives were either oversupply (bumper crop, driving down prices) or undersupply (extreme weather).

As with most repub policies, it would work really well as long as everything followed the plan. What could possibly go wrong?

This is going to bankrupt a lot of farmers.