Selling Ethanol in Kansas!

The 2019 summer driving season (June-August) was the first season since year-round E15 sales were approved in most of the country. As you may know, year-round E15 is not yet approved in Kansas City, and we continue to make progress on that front. However, the stations that we have provided cost-share are outside of the metro area. Specifically, the 21 stations that Kansas Corn provided funding for blender pumps averaged a 42% increase in E15 sales compared to the driving season in the summer of 2018. The top third of stations in the Kansas Corn grant program have averaged 60% annual sales increases since 2016 for E15 and 36% for E30, E50 and E85. Nationwide, the Prime the Pump program has provided cost-share to over 10,000 retail locations in 20 states. On average, Prime the Pump stations beat the national gasoline sales average by 250%!

Boosting Sales
As you can see by these numbers, once a station offers higher ethanol blends, sales increase rapidly. If more stations offer higher blends and sales continue to grow, the increase in ethanol (and corn) demand is akin to compound interest. We also have a variety of new materials geared towards retailers and have made presentations to the Kansas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, Kansas Agribusiness Expo and the Kansas Coop Council. The commission is continually accepting applications for new stations. Contact Kansas Corn staff Emily Koop or Josh Roe for more information.

Federal Program Coming
In other news, as part of the early October biofuel program, USDA was instructed to request funding for a Biofuels Infrastructure Program (BIP) 2.0. Details on this program are still forthcoming, but we have heard it may be administered on the national level, unlike the first program that was administered on the state level. A national program could streamline the process for those retailers located in numerous states. As more details on BIP 2.0 surface we will analyze that program to determine which Kansas retailers are more suited for the national program and what retailers will benefit from the ongoing Commission grant program.