Impacts of Dramatic Increase in Corn Based Ethanol Production on Grain Production and Marketing Patterns in South Dakota

Between 1995 and 2005, a drastic increase in ethanol production in the United States led to increased production of corn and substantially increased shares of corn destined for ethanol plants. The objectives of this paper are to investigate/identify: 1) the changes in the volume of grain handled by the elevators in South Dakota, 2) the changes in the destinations and the type of buyers for South Dakota grains, 3) the impacts of the ethanol plants on corn and other grain handled by the elevators which are located close to ethanol plants. The results presented in this paper are mostly from a survey of grain elevators in South Dakota, completed in early 2008. The results from the survey are also compared to the results from a similar survey completed in 1996.