| HEYBURN -- In the U.S. Department of Agriculture's first
sale of its sugar to ethanol producers, the J.R. Simplot Co.
was the chief buyer, purchasing 7,500 tons.
The purchase for the Heyburn and Caldwell ethanol plants
will step up production at the plants, said Stan Siewert,
manager of the ethanol division.
"This sugar will likely account for an extra million
gallons of fuel-grade ethanol," he said. It is sold
nationwide as a high-octane fuel.
Last year, the plants produced just under 4 million
gallons. A 1.63 billion-gallon record production of ethanol
was made in the United States last year, he said.
The Heyburn and Caldwell ethanol plants, the only such
facilities in Idaho, have traditionally used potato byproducts
from nearby french fry processors since the mid-1980s, Siewert
said.
"While most of that production can be attributed to
potato feedstocks, the purchase of alternative feedstocks is a
normal augmentation strategy for increasing plant
production," he said.
Some modification of plant equipment to allow the
introduction of sugar is anticipated, he said.
The Agriculture Department sold 15 million pounds or
7,522.5 tons of sugar from Commodity Credit Corp. stocks,
department officials said last week. |