Day 1 • Monday, April 27, 2009

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Registration/Breakfast
9:00 – 9:15 a.m.
Opening Welcome Remarks
Spencer Kelly, Editor, OPIS Ethanol & Biodiesel Information Service
9:15 – 10:15 a.m.
From Harvest to Highway
Part 1: Production Risk - Corn
Ross Korves, Economic Policy Analyst, ProExporter
Ross Korves
Corn price volatility writes the fate of any ethanol production venture. Our expert instructor will walk you through what happened to ethanol production economics last year and how this year is likely to shape up. Ross will offer a complete understanding of the factors that drive corn prices and how producers can prepare themselves to get on the right side of crush margins.
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.
Class Exercise
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
Will BablerWill walks you through an economic scenario where you become the corn buyer for an ethanol production plant. You’ll learn how to balance your input costs and output values to remain healthy and profitable. Several corn price levels will be demonstrated and tested, giving you hands-on experience with managing a production plant.
10:45 – 11:00 a.m.
Refreshment Break
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
From Harvest to Highway
Part 2: Production Risk - Soybeans
Ross Korves, Economic Policy Analyst, ProExporter
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
Biodiesel producers relying on soybean oil as their feedstock have suffered through massive increases in input costs. Will and Ross will detail key trend lines indicating if and when soybeans and soy oil are likely to fall back to levels that make biodiesel production profitable. They’ll explain the ever-increasing tug-of-war between the food and biofuels industries and how changing federal policy will address this conflict.
Bonus: Get a complete understanding of the role methanol prices play in biodiesel profitability.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Networking Luncheon
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
From Harvest to Highway
Part 3: Production Risk - Natural Gas
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
Now it’s time to tackle the second-biggest commodity risk that faces ethanol producers: natural gas. Drying corn before crushing and fermentation can add greatly to the cost of producing a gallon of biofuel. Will explains how natural gas markets work, what factors pull them up or down, and what’s likely to happen to prices in 2009 and beyond. He’ll also show you need-to-know ways for mitigating your natural gas exposure and how wet-milling and dry-milling ethanol plant economics differ.
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Class Exercise
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
We’ll take the corn price scenarios explored in the morning exercise and now apply natural gas to the equation. In the role of plant manager, you and your fellow attendees will have to account for another input cost and plan a pricing strategy around natural gas price volatility.
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
From Harvest to Highway
Part 4: Production Risk - Other Feedstocks
Ross Korves, Economic Policy Analyst, ProExporter
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
When corn and soybeans prove to be either too expensive or politically unpopular to use as biofuels feedstocks, savvy producers turn to other means. Will and Ross will stack corn values up against corn stover, switchgrass and biomass to see how the economics play out. They’ll also rank soybean-based biofuel against competing feedstocks such as animal fat, yellow grease and palm oil, and fully explain the prospects for up and coming “second generation” biodiesel feedstocks such as camelina and jatropha.
Bonus: Learn how and why some producers are using corn oil as a feedstock for biodiesel.
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Refreshment Break
3:45 – 4:15 p.m.
Class Exercise
Will Babler, Risk Manager, First Capital Risk Management
We’ll put you in the role of feedstocks manager for your production facility and ask you and your colleagues to put together a shopping list of which inputs are best for your plant economics. Then we’ll examine the same question by switching your regional location, your off-take markets, and key tax incentives and/or penalties. In the end, you’ll get a score card that will help you assess the best feedstock slate for your circumstances.
4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
From Harvest to Highway
Part 5: Production Risk - DDG-S & Glycerine
Ross Korves, Economic Policy Analyst, ProExporter
Bob Gray, VP of Business Development, World Energy
Ethanol production located near or within reasonable railcar distance of cattle farms enjoy a significant profit advantage if they produce Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles (DDG-S), a highly prized feed for ranchers. Ross and Bob will explain DDG-S markets and values, outlining key economic considerations for producers mulling off-take agreements for this byproduct. They’ll also stack DDG-S up against Wet Distiller’s Grains and illustrate the important differences. And, for biodiesel producers, glycerine can prove to be an economic boon if they can tap into manufacturers of consumer products and food. We’ll show you how to start.
5:15 p.m.
Adjourn for Day


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