Sioux Center, Iowa — A northwest Iowa ethanol plant has put their production on “pause” for now, in the wake of a downturn in the market for the corn-based fuel.
President of the Board of Directors for Siouxland Energy Cooperative, Kelly Niewenhuis, tells us it was not an easy decision.
He says all 42 employees at Siouxland Energy are important to them.
Niewenhuis tells us how they ended up here.
He emphasizes that this, for now, is only temporary.
But, according to Niewenhuis, he lays the blame squarely on the Trump administration.
Niewenhuis says farmer organizations and agribusiness companies are glad to go to bat for the farmers, but sheer numbers mean something too, so he encourages all farmers to contact their representatives and even the White House to inform them about the situation when things like this inevitably happen.
He tells us that for now, Siouxland Energy doesn’t plan to accept any corn for this harvest season. However, he says if things turn around, they could have the plant up and running again within a week.
