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Enogen corn expands to 16 ethanol plants

Syngenta has added seven ethanol plants to the list of those using grain from its Enogen corn, bringing the total to 16.

Syngenta’s Chris Tingle tells Brownfield acreage planted to Enogen will increase from 225-thousand this year to more than 400-thousand in 2016.

“We originally started out with the Enogen strategy focusing really in the core markets of Iowa, Nebraska, and some portions of Kansas,” Tingle says. “We’ve intensified those efforts in Iowa and Nebraska and, with these latest plants coming on board, have moved into Minnesota as well as Wisconsin.”

Enogen is the first biotech corn designed specifically to enhance ethanol production. It contains a special enzyme that reduces the viscosity of corn mash and eliminates the need to add a liquid form of the enzyme.

Tingle says that reduces the cost of production for ethanol plants.

“It’s a very robust enzyme that allows additional throughput and yield from an ethanol perspective,” he says, “and then, couple that with the energy savings that we’ve seen, and it’s really a direct addition to the bottom line for the ethanol plant.”

Tingle says growers who plant Enogen corn benefit as well, earning an average premium of 40 cents per bushel.

“We’re taking corn farmers now in these geographies and actually making them ‘enzyme suppliers’—adding more value to the community and allowing that value to stay there in the local community.”

Tingle says numerous trials have shown that Enogen hybrids yield and perform equal or better than other high-performing corn hybrids.

AUDIO: Chris Tingle