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IPPA testifies on food, feed and fuel at Senate Ag Committee field hearingIowa The president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association presented testimony Aug. 18 that calls for the adoption of corn fractionation technology at ethanol plants to allow more efficient use of the components of a kernel of corn. Dave Moody testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry at a field hearing in Omaha titled, "Food, Feed and Fuel Production: Today and Tomorrow." The pork producer from Nevada appeared at the invitation of Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the committee. "We are at an important crossroads in American agriculture where we must work cooperatively to produce food, feed and fuel simultaneously," Moody said. The demand-supply situation this year has brought about dramatic and rapid changes in commodity prices and despite record prices for cattle and hogs this summer, many livestock farmers are unable to break even because of increased input costs. "As margins for livestock and ethanol production have eroded, we must all look for new approaches to improve efficiencies," testified Moody. "While we may have averted disaster this year, we need to begin looking at policy options for the future. One of the most encouraging is corn fractionation for ethanol production." Fractionation is the high-speed separation of the corn kernel into its four basic components so the parts of the kernel can be used more efficiently. "It is currently very expensive to implement fractionation at ethanol plants and we want to help develop support for the adoption of this new technology," Moody said. "Congress should begin by investing in different approaches and demonstrations and then letting the industry adopt the technologies which show the greatest promise. Frankly, this technology shows more promise in the short-term than cellulosic-based ethanol." IPPA believes corn fractionation would be a win-win situation for all of agriculture and the nation. "When used in ethanol production, it helps reduce energy consumption, reduces transportation costs for co-products, reduces water consumption, increases ethanol production and will help create a greater number of high-value co-products," said Moody. 9/8/08 Date: 8/29/08
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