Ethanol-Maybe the Farmers know something

As Investors Covet Ethanol, Farmers Resist

Ed Zurga for The New York Times

Mid-Missouri Energy, an ethanol plant in Malta Bend, Mo., is owned by farmers who are debating whether to accept buyout offers. A recent drop in ethanol prices is complicating their decision.

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

Published: November 2, 2006

MALTA BEND, Mo. — Farmers do not see fast money very often. But with big profits gushing forth from ethanol plants, dozens of Wall Street bankers, in loafers and suits, have been descending on the cornfields of the Midwest promising to make thousands of farmers rich overnight.

Ryland Utlaut, president of the Mid-Missouri board, said members are attached to the plant. But, he said, “pride can make you poor.”

Most of them, though, are proving surprisingly reluctant to cash in.

And ...

Ethanol Could Corrode Pumps, Testers Say - New York Times:
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By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: October 27, 2006

CHICAGO, Oct. 26 — The farm-produced fuel that is supposed to help wean America from its oil addiction is under scrutiny for its potentially corrosive qualities.

E85, a blend of 85 percent corn-based ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, could be eating away at metal and plastic parts in pumps being used to dispense the fuel at gasoline stations, Underwriters Laboratories, the private product-safety testing group, said this month."