Missouri will receive $2.9 million in federal funding to increase the availability of ethanol, a corn-based fuel combined with regular gasoline, Gov. Jay Nixon announced Wednesday.
Nixon's office estimates the grant will help install 171 biofuel pumps and sell up to 4.9 million more gallons of ethanol per year. Current participants include Kum & Go, Hy-Vee, MFA Oil and Prairie Land FS, but all Missouri fuel retailers will have the chance to expand their pumps.
The committed retailers should expect to get the new pumps by the end of December, and they will be available across the state, according to Richard Fordyce, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
Fordyce also said ethanol industry organizations like Prime the Pump and participating retailers will "have some skin in the game" by contributing financially to the project.
"It's a win-win," Fordyce said. "It's a good investment for the retailer, it's a good investment certainly for the motoring public, and it's a good investment for agriculture."
The funding comes from the USDA's Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership, which provides $100 million in grants to 21 states, including Missouri.
Missouri was one of the first states to embrace ethanol use by mandating in 2006 that most fuel contains at least 10 percent ethanol. The new pumps will provide a wide variety of fuels, from regular unleaded to gasoline that is 85 percent ethanol.
For a major corn-producing state like Missouri, an increased availability of ethanol will likely bring benefits for several sectors of the agricultural economy. Gary Porter, chairman of the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council, said the distillers grain that comes from ethanol production is a major source of food for the state's livestock and poultry.
"The price of corn today is below production cost," Porter said. "Anything we can do to increase market demand will help the Missouri farmer."
According to a new report from the USDA, research shows there is reason to believe ethanol will become more competitive in the "intermediate run and the long run." Fordyce agreed, saying that the committed retailers "think there's definitely a market potential."