Pre-14C /// Def-14C

On 12 June Greenshift filed a Pre-14C that expanded the maximum shares allowed from 500M to 10B. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1269127/000126912709000054/ger14c61209.txt

The SkunK said then that it mattered HOW and WHEN these new shares were actually brought to market.

Looking at the daily volume it is obvious that we have not had any new shares sold yet. Investors like that and the PPS has leveled off with a slight upturn. This low volume was expected however, since what we saw was a Pre-14C. That will be followed in the future by an actual Def 14C filing.
***************

As far as the How?
Well of course, if these new shares are used to secure the companies financial future and allow the company to restructure its debt and build out its backlog of COES to profitability, then the PPS result will likely be friendly to shareholders. If the new shares are just used to buy time as we tread water in the deep end of the pool, then we are headed nowhere fast. As they say on death row - it's all about the execution* . . .

As far as When?
The earliest shares could be brought to market is 20 days after the notification to shareholders is mailed. Given the speed of snail mail and your location, the SkunK guesses this could take one day to five days to reach you. Three is a general estimate? That would mean after you get it in the mail you have at "least" two weeks before we would see any new shares on the market.

The one thing I know about a Pre-14C is it is followed up by a Def 14C - Hence the name "Pre". That would also be an indicator and may give us "Definitive" information. For instance, it may give the date we can expect the mailing to shareholders to go out.

I expect to see the Def-14C ANYTIME NOW.

As far as the Volume? When we see daily volume above 50M -[that is not riding the crest of HUGE news] - then the SkunK will surely believe we are seeing confirmation of significant new shares brought to market.

What happens now?
"The amendment will be filed and become effective approximately twenty days after this Information Statement is mailed to the shareholders."

So look for something to be mailed to your broker - and depending on your circumstance it may be mailed directly to your home of record that your broker maintains. Two weeks after that closely monitor the volume. We will then get a glimpse on how these new "potential shares" will or will not enter the market.

Good Luck to Investors,
SkunK

*ps Sorry to have to get that pun out of my system . . .

The Rules of the Game Just Might Change

House Passes Historic Bill to Curb Climate Change

Republicans Argue That Legislation Is Too Costly and Will Damage Economy; Prospects in Senate Remain Murky

" . . . the measure will spur job-creating investments in "green" technologies, while lessening U.S. reliance on foreign oil."

See Article Here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124602039232560485.html#mod=djemalertNEWS

*************
SkunK

"near by ethanol distilleries"

Biodiesel plant to get $25 Mln USDA loan guarantee

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it has approved a $25 million loan guarantee so Soymor Biodiesel can expand its production of advanced biofuels.

The money will allow Soymor, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, to purchase equipment to convert multiple feedstocks into biodiesel. At present, it can process only soybean oil.

Alternative feedstocks would include an unrefined corn oil waste product from nearby ethanol distilleries.

See Rest of Article here:
http://www.claridenleu.com/research/index.cfm?fuseaction=research.reutnews&detailType=newsDetail&nid=1245880754nN24510810&lang=en&cfid=350910&cftoken=23607227

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First of all, thanks to a post on I-Hub by jobynimble that pointed us on to this one.

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=39020424

So just who are those nearby ethanol Distilleries?

Well, I know that the Lakota 100mmgy Ethanol distillery, 2 miles west of Lakota IA and owned by Global Ethanol - Using the hwy 9 - hwy 69 - I35 route is just under 70 miles from the SoyMor Plant at 780th Ave Albert Lea, MN 56007. Could this be the plant that will process the corn oil from the future Lakota GERS COES? Sure it could. But as you can see the Lakota Plant and Albert Lea are both at GROUND ZERO when it comes to Ethanol Production in the United States. LOTS of plants in the area.

This map explains a lot about the national politics of ethanol and who supports it and who does not. Stay tuned.

Take a closer look where I got the map:
http://ethanolproducer.com/plantmap/

SkunK

SkunK Launches new Blog

Now that it looks like Carbonics Capital is coming to life, the SkunK has launched another Blog as an easy reference to my readers. Although GERS, ESYM and CICS are separate companies, their story is inter-related. DD on one, certainly leads to the other two. I have been tracking it on my own for awhile, and for those who wish to use it - here it is.

http://carbonics-cics.blogspot.com/

It looks like GERS may sell its Seed Crushing Facility to CICS.

Good Luck to all Investors,
SkunK

NEW Q&A with the CEO

The SkunK recently received the following answers to the questions he asked this morning:

1. The 1Q GERS stated the company's goal was to divest itself of the Seed Crushing plant in Montana and the Adrian Biodiesel plant in the 2Q. Has either or both of these been accomplished?

Answer:
One is complete. Our goal is to have both completed by the end of the quarter.


2. The typical Ethanol Plant is very close to profitability after a ten month dry spell. What effect will this have?

Answer:
Stronger clients equate to reduced credit risk.


3. The Department of Energy press release area on their web site does not yet seem full of grant money for biofuels. Do you expect that to change soon?

Answer:
Grants and other public financing can play an important role in our financing and technology development activities in the future but we are more likely to see more capital, more quickly from more conventional sources. For example, testing is currently underway with Tornado Generator technology to enhance the yield of ethanol and oil from corn. This testing is solely financed by a GreenShift early adopter.


4. Is venture capital and long term financing becoming more available in the biofuels market?

Answer:
Capital is starting to become more available but the fundamentals all need to be there. We have the business model (the feedstock ownership, the hedged margins, the backlog, the intellectual properties, the proven performance, and sheer scale of the market opportunity). Our balance sheet will remain challenged until we refinance our convertible debt, which remains a critical goal. We believe that our technology positioning has increased our options to achieve this, as well as to finance the completion of our previously-halted construction activities as well as new facilities out of our backlog.

5. It would seem that GreenShift's COES technology might be a way to satisfy the conflicting interests of two competing groups in Washington. The Ethanol Industry looking to secure its financial base and the environmentalist groups concerned about land use and carbon release. Did Dr. Krablin get any traction in Washington?

Answer:
EPA/RFS2
We were excited to participate and to have the continuing opportunity to provide the US EPA and other agencies with information pertaining to the many positive impacts of corn oil extraction. We have proven that we can extract upwards of 6.5 million gallons of corn oil per year for every 100 million gallons of ethanol produced. This corresponds to a 7% increase in the gallons of biofuel produced per bushel of corn from 2.8 to 3.0 gallons per bushel and about a 21% reduction in the energy utilization of ethanol production. And, by reducing the energy use at the ethanol plant and refining biofuel from the recovered corn oil, which would otherwise go to animal feed, not energy, the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to ethanol production are reduced by an incredible 29%. We believe that these data show that GreenShift's extraction technology is the Best Demonstrated Available Technology for GHG mitigation today.

******************

I would like to thank Mr. Kreisler for taking the time to answer these questions,

SkunK

Oil Companies Shop for Discounted Ethanol Plants (in Fulton NY)

As a result of the recent struggles in the U.S. ethanol industry oil companies have been buying ethanol plants at a discount, according to the Associated Press, giving oil producers a 7-percent stake in the industry.

From Valero Energy Corp.'s purchase of seven former VeraSun Energy Corp. plants, to Sunoco's bargain-basement buy of the former Northeast Biofuels plant in Volney, N.Y., to Marathon Oil's ventures into plants in Illinois and Ohio, the oil industry has entered into the ethanol industry in a short period of time.

. . . when an oil company buys an existing corn-based ethanol plant it is already grandfathered in on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal that limits the carbon footprint of ethanol plants.

See Entire Article Here:
http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=ethanol&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc218d18ec0121f970b36f059b

********************
They must figure if you can't beat 'em - own 'em!

Now we know who purchased the MEGA Ethanol plant in Fulton NY - or Volney NY or Oswego County NY (depends who is talking about it). This large plant has been planned for two COES in the Greenshift backlog. Sold for $8.5 million!!!!!!!! Sunoco is one of the largest independent refiner-marketers in the United States and may have gotten one of the best deals at an auction - ever!

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/sunoco-completes-purchase-of-ethanol-manufacturing-facility-in-volney-new-york,861329.shtml

Here is an in depth local view point published today!
http://www.valleynewsonline.com/viewnews.php?newsid=85986&id=1

SkunK

CIE 30%

Central Indiana Ethanol (CIE), located in Marion, IN, is the third COES of the 5 COES that are currently completed.

On the CIE web site they have just linked to an article that reports about a local station that is cashing in on THE 30% secret. That little known secret is when you have about a 20-30% ethanol blend many experience a milage improvement - even better than straight gasoline. Hmmmm, wonder why they don't talk about that in the main stream press??

http://www.cie.us/PR.html

http://www.cie.us/documents/ipf003.pdf

For those who are wondering, after a 10 month dry spell, making Ethanol is now very close to profitable again. The better run or better positioned Ethanol plants are already back in the black.
http://www.dtnethanolcenter.com/index.cfm?show=10&pid=31&mid=80

Now if we can just get the 10% blend to move to at least 15% soon.

In the meantime some auto makers tried to resist making flex fuel vehicles claiming the Ethanol E-85 pumps where not there to support them. At the same time others? were working to decertify the E-85 pumps as unsafe. Well against all these odds it appears that we are continuing to add E-85 pumps.
http://www.dtnethanolcenter.com/index.cfm?show=10&mid=80&pid=15

SkunK

Update on Global Ethanol Web site

Start-up for a corn oil extraction process began in Novemeber 2008 at our Riga, MI ethanol plant. Greenshift Corporation provided the technology, design and installation of the system. This process has the capability of producing 1.5 million gallons of corn oil per year.

http://www.globalethanolservices.com/Current_Projects.html

Nice to see pictures of the Riga Coes today. Remember this picture from the Riga Site from last August? http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/2008/08/global-ethanol-update.html

SkunK

10B Shares Authorized

*****************
SkunK NEWS Alert
*****************
". . . amend the certificate of incorporation of GreenShift so as to increase the number of shares of authorized common stock from 500,000,000 shares to 10,000,000,000 shares."
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1269127/000126912709000054/ger14c61209.txt

**************
Why?
"The primary reason for the increase is the requirement contained in GreenShift's agreements with YA Global to maintain a sufficient number of shares of authorized common stock to enable conversion of debt issued by GreenShift to YA Global."

Any Potential?
"Management may utilize the additional shares in connection with corporate acquisitions, joint venture arrangements, . . ."

"Management has not entered into any commitment to issue any shares except upon conversion of the outstanding debentures."

When effective?
"On June 11, 2009, the holder of a majority of the voting power of the outstanding voting stock gave its written consent to the amendment. The amendment will be filed and become effective approximately twenty days after this Information Statement is mailed to the shareholders."

Although the SkunK has pointed this out, the company addresses the potential for a hostile takeover here:

"The amendment of the Certificate of Incorporation is not being done for the purpose of impeding any takeover attempt, and Management is not aware of any person who is acquiring or plans to acquire control of GreenShift. Nevertheless, the power of the Board of Directors to provide for the issuance of shares of common stock without shareholder approval has potential utility as a device to discourage or impede a takeover of GreenShift. In the event that a non-negotiated takeover were attempted, the private placement of stock into"friendly" hands, for example, could make GreenShift unattractive to the party seeking control of GreenShift. This would have a detrimental effect on the interests of any stockholder who wanted to tender his or her shares to the party seeking control or who would favor a change in control."

No one should be too surprised the share structure changed. The SkunK told you 9 May we were maxed out at 500M shares with a blog not surprisingly entitled 500M Shares Outstanding .

GERS told us the same thing in the 1Q:

"The number of outstanding shares of common stock as of May 20, 2009 was 500,000,000."

The only thing left to surprise us was which of three options would await us. As the SkunK pointed out - once we hit the 500M OS, we were headed for a Reverse Split, an increase in the OS or some other reorganization involving another company.

**********
This from the 9 May Blog:

This max 500M OS will also lead to either an increase in the OS, or a reverse split - or the SkunK has a hunch on a third option - we could see a transfer of our shares through merger into a new or existing public company.
http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/2009/05/500m-shares-outstanding.html
**********
Surprise - It was an increase in the OS

One could certainly make a good argument that this OS increase is the same as a 20-1 reverse split. After all, the OS authorized just increased by 20 times. However this does not have an actual dilutive effect until the common shares are put in the float. Yesterday, say I owned 1% of the float. Today I still do. If the float doubles to 1B of the 10B now authorized, I would own .5%.

The major problem of increasing the OS is the very real potential of a decreasing pps if those new shares are accessed quickly - without a corresponding rise in the value of the company.

FOR EXAMPLE
If the value of the company is raised by four times over a period in which the float doubles - that should still be a doubling of the value of each share.

If, however the value of the company stays the same over a period of time that the float doubles - then the value of each shares is cut in half.

The long term price of this stock is still tied to the value of the company. That fundamental has not changed.

Good Luck to Investors,
SkunK

EPA Listening to GreenShift in Washington!

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)

–The goal of squeezing hundreds of millions of gallons of additional renewable fuel out of the corn-based ethanol production process is not only achievable, but inevitable, according to Rich Krablin, a vice president for Texas company Green Shift.

Krablin, who made his case this week for the efficiency and profitability of extracting unused corn oil to produce biodiesel to the Environmental Protection Agency, said the government was wrong to dismiss the product as unsubstantial.

The EPA, Krablin said, believes that only about 20% of ethanol plants will extract corn oil by the year 2022.

But that’s an estimate based on ignorance of new technology that makes the process much more efficient and profitable, he told a panel of government officials at a hearing on the EPA’s plan to implement Congress’ renewable fuel standard.

That got the attention of Paul Machiele, director of EPA’s Fuel Programs Center and one of the panelists at the two-day hearing this week. Michele said he wanted to know more and he wanted Krablin to provide him with data on the technology quickly.

See Rest of Article Here:
http://www.analystpalmoil.com/interview-corn-based-biodiesel-to-boost-fuel-farm-sector/

*************************
WOW! this is the kind of news WE LOVE to read! Go Dr. Krablin!

SkunK Note: The confusion is this article about Greenshift being based in Texas may be based on (some?) of the EPA hearing are being held in Houston, Texas? That according to the next article byline and link.

Here is another article talking about other groups talking to the EPA in these hearings.
http://dtnethanolcenter.com/pivot.cfm?id=388&mid=80&pid=21

SkunK

*************
PS. For those not familiar with the many enormously qualified individuals in the management of Greenshift, the SkunK has a list of Bios on the right this here blog. Dr Krablin's bio off the web site.


As reported on Friday, Skunk Blog April 17, 2009 in http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-news.html Dr. Krablin is listed as an "old employee with a new job".] Dr. Krablin was recently made a member of the Greenshift Board of Directors [First reported in the 2008 Annual Report]:

Richard Krablin, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Special Projects Dr. Krablin directs GreenShift’s environmental, health and safety programs and plays an integral role in GreenShift’s research and development activities and other special projects.

Prior to joining GreenShift, Dr. Krablin served as Senior Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety for Horsehead Industries, Inc., a leading zinc recycler. Dr. Krablin administered Horsehead’s compliance as it extracted zinc from electric arc furnace dust, a hazardous waste produced by the steel industry.

Prior to joining Horsehead, Dr. Krablin had a multi-tasked career with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) where he directed the worldwide environmental affairs of the mining and mineral processing subsidiary and managed the legacies and Superfund sites of the former Anaconda Co. Dr. Krablin started his industry career with The Anaconda Co. in Montana.
Dr. Krablin has a Ph.D. and M.S. in physics from Drexel University in Philadelphia and a B.S. in physics from Lafayette College, and is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program for business leaders.

Is Oil going to $250 a Barrel? [What will that do to the price of Biodiesel?]

The price of oil burst through the $71 a barrel mark today amid revelations that proven reserves had fallen for the first time in 10 years and predictions that the price could eventually hit $250.

The latest high – from lows of $30 only four months ago – came on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the cost of July deliveries rose by $1.35 to $71.36.

This comes on top of a $2 rise the day before as investors rushed into the market on the back of lower stockpile figures, higher demand estimates and speculation against further falls in the dollar.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we're testing $80 in a week or two," said one analyst, while BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, questioned whether $90 could be the "right" value.

Kuwait's oil minister, Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, put some of the rise down to signs of recovery in Asia but warned that overall demand was still weaker than last year. Opec would not raise supply at current oil prices but did not rule it out "if it reached $100", he said.

Alexei Miller, chairman of the Russian energy group Gazprom, raised the stakes further when he reiterated last year's estimates of $250 a barrel. "This forecast has not become reality yet, given that the [credit] crisis gained momentum and exerted a powerful impact on the global energy market. But does this mean that our forecast was unrealistic? Not at all."

See entire article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/10/oil-market-reserves

SkunK

Monthly Share Volume Report and what I would like to see

The monthly share volume report has been out for a week, but I am just getting around to taking a look. As expected we had massive volume in May - the highest volume ever. Total Share Volume was 642,366,991. This is over 128% of our total authorized shares trading hands in a single month. Can you say "day traders??" We had 21 separate market makers handle the stock during the month - also a new record high.

We thought we had massive trading in April, and we did. But the May trading ballooned until we met our OS limit. Since then we have certainly not had any 50Million share days. But the trading has still continued way above average. With a little over 7Million a day averaged so far this month, I estimate we may see about 156Million shares traded in the 22 trading days of June. As you can see, this is down from the "abnormality" of May - but up from any other month. Since we have hit our max OS in May, none of this months trading is dilution - it appears to be all legitimate volume based on increased investor/speculator/day trader interest.

http://www.otcbb.com/asp/tradeact_mv.asp?SearchBy=issue&Issue=GERS&SortBy=volume&Month=5-1-2009&IMAGE1.x=19&IMAGE1.y=6

*******

We definitely had a jump up since I called a move before trading last Thursday.

http://greenshift-gers.blogspot.com/2009/06/pps-moving.html

Now I would like to see some "gaps up" to build off that pendant formation. Note we brushed the top of the upper bollinger band today and we are once again above both the 20 and 50 day MA. How about a "pop" through that upper band and a move above the top of our flag pole at .0145? That would freshen things up a bit. We could sure use some solid "good news" from the PR department right about now while we are still sitting sweet. Hurry before these short term technicals turn to mush. . . - lol

Good Luck to Investors,

SkunK

UPDATES? Additional Patents or Patent Licensing?

If, as the previous blog suggests we are about to get an update on our Patents pending - the SkunK thinks that is likely to mean one of two things.

First of all some of our other patents (besides the two already received) may have been approved. This would be good news.

The second option may be we have news about negotiations for Patent licensing. This is where Greenshift makes a deal with a competitor to pay Greenshift for the use of its corn oil extraction technologies. This would be great news since it would likely involve cash flow, something very welcome in GERS-land. However, it would also involve passing additional information to our competitors.

Who could be involved in patent licensing negotiations with Greenshift?? Well, from previous Greenshift filings we have this:

"While each of the competing extraction providers has copied our patent-pending extraction technologies, they have done it poorly; their average yield is about 25% of our proven yield. The competing installations that we have seen also increase the host ethanol facility's use of fossil fuel, thereby reducing the net value of the oil that they are able to extract. Conversely, we reduce the utility costs of our ethanol clients by about 10%."

"Issued patents can be expected to have significant negative consequences for unauthorized use of our technologies by third parties." A p.11

http://www.greenshift.com/pdf/GERS_10K_2008_4_15_09.pdf
***************

We also have this from the 1Q:

"Focus exclusively on servicing the growth needs of our extraction technologies while facilitating the development of other clean technologies in our portfolio by issuing an early adopter license for use of our Cellulosic Corn(TM) technologies (not including extraction) to a qualified corn ethanol producer to finance and administer early stage development activities." 1Q p24

What does this mean?? Well, I see no signs Greenshift is about to offer licensing agreements to our competitors. So If the SkunK had to make a guess about what would be in an update of information about other GERS patents - or actions to protect the ones already received . . . I think licensing is possible but less likely at this point.

My best guess as always,
SkunK

Corn Oil Extraction Patents - updates are expected

The following message was posted on the Yahoo message board by edward_stevenson
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_G/threadview?m=tm&bn=77822&tid=7674&mid=7674&tof=1&frt=2

*********
GreenShift Corporation profiled on TimelessWealth.net
7-Jun-09 11:46 pm
GreenShift Corporation has been profiled on TimelessWealth.netAll investors/traders are cordially invited to visit GreenShift Corp's profile, and subscribe to our free newsletter. All the best.
Sentiment : Strong Buy

http://timelesswealth.net/index.html

GERS is listed under "Investment Opportunity". Although most of the news is from the Greenshift web site - the following seems to be "NEW" news:

Corn Oil Extraction Patents - updates are expected

SkunK

Farmers to get 1st payments from safflower company (with addition from second Article)

The Montana Department of Agriculture is mailing checks totaling $611,770 to 40 farmers in Montana and North Dakota who were not paid last year after delivering safflower crops to a biodiesel company in Culbertson.

Sustainable Systems LLC agreed in April to allow the Montana Department of Agriculture to sell crops, seed and processed cooking oil and distribute those proceeds and a $113,000 surety bond to producers.The payments going out Friday amount to about 64 percent of what is owed to Montana producers and about 40 percent of what is owed to farmers in North Dakota.

Rest of Article Here:
http://www.kxmc.com/News/386227.asp

Addition
All 22 Montana growers who delivered seed to the plant will share in a portion of a $113,000 surety bond, with amounts determined by a percentage of the amounts owed to growers. The North Dakota Public Service Commission is administering bond payments to North Dakota growers under that state's laws.

Sustainable Systems laid off most of its staff earlier this spring. Company officials said they were unable to receive financing to resolve cash flow problems. The company has been cooperating with the Montana department to liquidate agricultural assets under the state's grain law.

Another (slightly longer) Article Here:
http://www.matr.net/article-34625.html

Another Article here:
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/apArticle/id/D98KM0PO2/

SkunK

PPS Moving?

SkunK is back at his stateside den.

Looks like we have a classic pennant or flag formation building on our technicals. We are sitting right on the 50 MA with both the 20 and the 200 MA above us. We have had tighter and tighter daily trading ranges. Those Bollinger Bands are screaming as they come together. The SkunK thinks the PPS is about to make a significant percentage point move. Not smart enough to tell you which direction - but I figure we are gonna go somewhere fast by the end of the week.

Just my opinion, but that's the way I see it. . . been wrong plenty of times on this stock. . . a pennant or flag is normally a positive signal, but this stock can certainly be ab normal.

SkunK

You take a look,
Discussions of Pennant or Flag at:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pennant.asp
http://www.trending123.com/patterns/bull_flag.html
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/flag.asp

Red Trail in Financial Turmoil

A North Dakota ethanol plant is facing an uncertain financial future amid the recession that culminated in a $5.4 million loss for Red Trail Energy last year, according to the company's most recent financial report filed with the Securities Exchange Commission.

Like other ethanol plants around the nation, Red Trail Energy, an ethanol plant in Richardton that opened in 2007 and produced nearly 55 million gallons of ethanol fuel last year, is facing a daunting problem: an oversupply of fuel and a weakened appetite for it - as well as gasoline - among American consumers.

"It's been ugly," said Mike Appert, the chairman of Red Trail's board of directors that met in Bismarck on Thursday to discuss the company's finances.About 20 percent of domestic ethanol production has been shut down as of March, according to the company's financial report.

Full Article Here:
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2009/05/29/news/topnews/186247.txt

SkunK Note: Todd Neely has good insight on Ethanol matters - below he describes the situation that not only Ethanol - but also the seed crushing facility in Montana faced. They purchased contracts in the high prices of the spring and summer of 2008 and as harvest time came they were faced with paying the high prices while the price of all oils and biofuels collapsed.

Todd Neeley DTN:
As we've seen with the number of ethanol bankruptcies and reported financial trouble in the past year, the volatile corn market of 2008 hurt a lot of companies. VeraSun Energy Corp. is a prime example. VeraSun had contracts with farmers to supply corn in the $4 to $6 range last year. Then when corn prices fell in some cases below $3 a bushel last fall, VeraSun was stuck with higher-priced corn. As a result the company, which was one of the three largest producers at the time, recorded losses of about $400 million in just one quarter. Those ethanol producers still in operation now are working hard to overcome the after effects of high-priced corn. In some cases, the options are limited.

http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=ethanol&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc20eaaa3801218cc40b37080d

SkunK

PS. June is normally the rainy season in these parts and I got a taste of that over the last few days. I will use the remaining sunshine to make my exit back to the good ol' USA. May be off the radar for a bit . . .