Corn, a golden staple of our diets, is making headlines for its growing role in fueling our vehicles. The USDA’s recent data unveils an interesting trend – more corn is being used for ethanol production.
In July, the corn fields had something to celebrate. The month saw a 2% increase in corn consumed compared to June and a 1% increase from July 2022, totaling an impressive 504 million bushels. Most of this – a whopping 92% – was turned into alcohol, with the remaining 8% used for various other needs.
Corn dedicated to fuel alcohol production reached 454 million bushels in July, marking a 3% increase from the previous month and a 2% increase year-over-year. Whether for dry milling or wet milling, corn was the star, contributing 91.9% and 8.1% respectively.
And there’s more! Corn used for industrial alcohol production reached 7.19 million bushels, showing growth from the previous month and year. However, not all sectors saw growth – corn for beverage alcohol saw a decrease in July.