News and Notes - August 13, 2008

Feature Article

Tennessee farm acreage up to record values
http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2008/08/11/daily21.html?surround=lfn

The value of Tennessee farm land continues to rise. Values for farms increased by 7% in 2007. Crop and pasture land values increased during the same time frame. Cropland rental rates declined slightly while pasture rental rates increased. Commodity prices, interest rates, and other sources of this increased are discussed. This article is a good look at the state of farm values in Tennessee.

UTBI-related News

Switchgrass For Energy Will Take Time
http://hayandforage.com/ehayarchive/0812-switchgrass-energy-time/

US News

VeraSun CEO Sees Coming Nationwide Rollout Of Ethanol
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200808121303DOWJONESDJONLINE000481_FORTUNE5.htm

Michigan State to Create Genomic Clearinghouse for Biofuel Crops
http://www.biofuelsjournal.com/articles/Michigan_State_to_Create_Genomic_Clearinghouse_for_Biofuel_Crops-61684.html

Improved Reaction Data Heat Up The Biofuels Harvest
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080807112611.htm

A New Environment for Biofuels
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=53307

Ethanol producer Biofuel Energy in trouble over losses
http://www.startribune.com/business/26894089.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Sunnier Forecast for Corn and Soybean Harvest
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/business/13crop.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

Unexpected bumper crops unlikely to give much relief
http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/7/9/112249097.html

Is It Ethanol? Corn Harvest Up, Prices Too
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/08/12/is-it-ethanol-corn-harvest-up-prices-too/

Irrational policy: Ethanol requirements are all about politics and little about energy or the environment
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5937448.html

Beginning of the Blender Pumps
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=4600

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels Announces Version Zero of their Sustainability Standard
http://cgse.epfl.ch/page65660.html

International News

Biofuels: the sweet smell of power  (Brazil’s quest for energy independence)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/08/12/scifuel112.xml