Barley offers alternative to corn for ethanol

Most ethanol plants are located in the Corn Belt, because that is where corn is raised. Ethanol is needed on the East and West Coasts, and investors and developers are looking for ways to build ethanol plants there. Farmers could raise barley for ethanol production on the East Coast, in the Mid-Atlantic States, in the Northwest U.S., as well as across the Great Plains. “On the East Coast, barley can be planted in the fall and then harvested in the fairly early spring,” said Kevin Hicks, USDA Agricultural Research Service research leader in the area of crop conversion science. “That allows you to plant soybeans after you harvest the barley.”... "www.checkbiotech.org":[ www.checkbiotech.org]

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