Major ethanol company undergoes huge transformation

Green Plains, Inc., one of the largest ethanol producers in the U.S., is rolling out a new, high-protein animal and fish feed product. Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer for Green Plains, told Successful Farming magazine on Wednesday that the move into the high-protein animal feed market is part of an effort to move the company toward a more predictable cash-flow pattern and away from the volatile ups and downs of the ethanol market. The transformative effort aims to remake Green Plains into what Becker calls Green Plains Generation 2.0. “We are now embarking on a total transformation plan,” Becker stated. “We’ve always made a lot of distillers grains. Now, we have the technology to isolate and create a new, high-protein product from the corn kernel. We think this is a good time to start the transition to more predictable cash flows. This is the real deal. We can’t wait any longer. It really transforms what we do because the (high-protein feed) product is so unique and so valuable. It’s not something that we’ve seen in our (ethanol) industry.” According to the company’s fourth quarter and 2019 earnings report, Green Plains sold 857 million gallons of ethanol, 2.2 million tons of distillers grains, and 212 million pounds of corn oil last year. The company consumed 298 million bushels of corn in 2019. Becker said Green Plains’ ethanol production and corn consumption won’t change because of the new focus on high-protein animal feed. Green Plains’ annual ethanol production capacity at its 13 plants is approximately 1.1 billion gallons a year, according to the company. The 13 plants have the capacity to produce approximately 3.1 million tons of distillers grains annually. The corn oil recovered from Green Plains’ plants is sold to biodiesel manufacturers and to feedlot and poultry markets...MORE