Ethanol boom squeezes biodiesel supply

With farmers planting more corn, the price of soybeans is growing prohibitive

Farmers saw high prices for corn this spring and planted even more than expected. That may help hold down food prices, but it’s bad news for struggling biodiesel makers who depend on soybean oil.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday that farmers nationwide planted 92.9 million acres of corn this year – 19 percent more than last year and 3 percent more than the government had projected in March. The demand for ethanol led U.S. farmers to plant the most corn since 1944.

But that extra corn acreage means that farmers planted 15 percent less land to soybeans.

The price of soybean oil is “almost to the point where it’s not economically feasible to make biodiesel,” said Dan Holesinger, manager of Clinton County Bio Energy.

“We’ve been running at that ragged edge for the last several months,” Holesinger said. “We have to look at all our options, and one might be just not producing.”

Des Moines Register