uring my second week as the 73rd Alice in Dairyland, I was excited to put some miles on “Kernel,” the flex-fuel Ford Explorer, as I traveled to see the United Wisconsin Grain Producers ethanol production facility in Friesland. I learned that UWGP uses over 20 million bushels of corn every year for ethanol production and that yeast plays a key role in the process.
The type of corn used to make ethanol is “No. 2 Yellow.” It is not the sweet corn or the canned corn found in grocery stores. Only 3% of this corn goes directly into food products as corn meal, oil, syrup or starch. In fact, ethanol may help lower the cost of all food items in the grocery store as one of the largest factors in food prices is transportation. Ethanol also reduces the cost of fuel.
