Ethanol was loaded from the E3 BioFuels plant in Mead, Nebraska, in May. Now the facility is entering bankruptcy.
Photo: Kelley Campaign [1]
Forget the results for the Yonder 40 stock index — which did modestly well last week. The big news in rural business over the past week, to us at least, was the rapid-fire consolidation in the alternative fuels business.
VeraSun Energy Corp. agreed late last week [2] to purchase the smaller U.S. BioEnergy Corp. in an all-stock deal that could make the combined companies the largest producer of ethanol in the United States by the end of next year. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. produces the most ethanol now and expects to gin out 1.34 billion gallons by the end of next year. The larger VeraSun, however, would be producing over 1.6 billion gallons by the time 2008 finishes.
The deal is worth $700 million. VeraSun is located in Brookings, South Dakota. U.S. BioEnergy is headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.
The deal is widely seen as the most prominent example of consolidation in what had been a rapidly expanding industry. But with a recent glut in ethanol production, [3] per gallon profits have dropped dramatically. There have been new objections from environmentalists about ethanol production, and food and cattle groups have opposed ethanol incentives, saying the fuel is driving up food and feed prices.
"Consolidation is seen as a way for producers to become more efficient and more competitive in a crowded, volatile and cutthroat market where profit margins are low and more production capacity is scheduled to come online," reported the Wall Street Journal.
"Our first focus is to integrate two companies," said the chief executive of VeraSun, Don Endres, adding, "Clearly"¦the industry — as all industries do — will consolidate over time."
"Over time" appears to be starting today. Besides the VeraSun/U.S. BioEnergy merger, the E3 BioFuels LLC ethanol plant in Mead, Nebraska, closed last week as it sought to reorganize under the protection of bankruptcy law, according to the Omaha World-Herald [4]. The plant opened in June, but it had mechanical problems from the beginning. An explosion in a boiler kept the plant from reaching capacity.
The Mead plant used an innovative "closed loop" technology: manure from a nearby feedlot was used to create methane, which fueled the plant.
Another ethanol plant planned for Rock Port, Missouri, has also stopped construction. The Rock Port plant was locally owned — a signal of how hard it may be for rural communities and small investors to participate in the prosperity generated by renewable fuels produced from farm-raised feed stocks.
Meanwhile, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported [5] over the weekend that the "fledgling U. S. biodiesel industry is struggling to cope with soaring soybean-oil prices, a glut of production capacity and a poorly developed distribution system." Rising soybean prices have driven up the costs of production, and Arkansas plants are running well below capacity.
"¢ Cato Corp, the rural retailer, dropped a quarter of its value this past week. The company announced last Thursday that third-quarter earnings fell 51% to $2.9 million, or 9 cents a share, from $5.9 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
"¢ Cabela's, the revered sporting goods retail and catalogue outfit, has been getting dinged by hunters in the West for its new real estate division. As Bill Schneider explains in NewWest.net, Cabela's Trophy Properties "opened an office in Montana and started listing what the Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF), the state's largest group of hunters and anglers, calls "˜traditional public hunting properties.'" Hunters in the West told Cabela's they didn't appreciate the company's complicity in land deals that were turning formerly public hunting lands private. For details, go to NewWest and read Schneider's story [6].
"¢ In a bizarre trademark lawsuit, a panel of three federal judges said Hormel couldn't keep a software company from using the word "spam." Hormel makes Spam, of course, the canned mystery meat. Spam Arrest LLC provided spam email blocking services. The judges ruled Spam Arrest was "different in connotation and commercial impression" from Hormel's use of the word — and doesn't taste any good fried either.
"¢ Smithfield Foods was hurt by lower hog prices and reported a 61% drop in fiscal second-quarter net income.
Below is a complete listing of the Yonder 40's results for the week ending November 30, 2007:
| Companies | Ticker | Price November 30 | Price Change for Week | Percent Change for Week |
| Alico Inc. | ALCO | 44.39 | $0.18 | 0.4% |
| Andersons Inc. | ANDE | 42.42 | $0.42 | 1.0% |
| Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. | BNI | 83.52 | $1.07 | 1.3% |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRKB | 4,690.00 | $215.00 | 4.8% |
| Bassett Furniture | BSET | 8.9 | -$0.79 | -8.2% |
| Peabody Energy Corp. | BTU | 55.64 | $3.03 | 5.8% |
| Cabela's Inc. | CAB | 16.54 | $0.19 | 1.2% |
| ConAgra Foods Inc. | CAG | 25.02 | $1.20 | 5.0% |
| Cato Corp. Cl A | CTR | 15.06 | -$4.79 | -24.1% |
| Citizens Communications | CZN | 12.98 | $0.34 | 2.7% |
| Deere & Co. | DE | 171.8 | $15.16 | 9.7% |
| Dean Foods Co. | DF | 24.94 | $0.23 | 0.9% |
| DIRECTV Group | DTV | 24.87 | $0.70 | 2.9% |
| Family Dollar Stores Inc. | FDO | 23.55 | $0.73 | 3.2% |
| Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. | FLE | 5.47 | -$0.58 | -9.6% |
| FairPoint Communications | FRP | 14.92 | -$1.10 | -6.9% |
| Gaylord Entertainment Co. | GET | 42.06 | $1.63 | 4.0% |
| Hormel Foods | HRL | 39.75 | $1.96 | 5.2% |
| International Speedway Corp. | ISCA | 42.61 | -$0.39 | -0.9% |
| Lee Enterprises | LEE | 14 | -$0.72 | -4.9% |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK | 80.44 | $1.44 | 1.8% |
| Monsanto Co. | MON | 99.37 | $8.96 | 9.9% |
| Mine Safety Appliances Co. | MSA | 49.01 | $1.82 | 3.9% |
| Southwest Bancorp | OKSB | 17.95 | $0.97 | 5.7% |
| Plum Creek Timber REIT | PCL | 46.37 | $3.23 | 7.5% |
| Penn Virginia Corp. | PVA | 41.62 | -$4.06 | -8.9% |
| Ralcorp Holdings | RAH | 61.39 | -$1.58 | -2.5% |
| Regions Financial Corp. | RF | 26.43 | $2.21 | 9.1% |
| Sturm Ruger & Co. | RGR | 9.25 | -$0.12 | -1.3% |
| Smithfield Foods | SFD | 30.05 | $2.21 | 7.9% |
| Skywest Inc. | SKYW | 26.31 | $1.51 | 6.1% |
| Southern Co. | SO | 37.62 | -$0.42 | -1.1% |
| Stage Stores Inc. | SSI | 16.92 | -$0.39 | -2.3% |
| Tractor Supply Co. | TSCO | 41.02 | $1.32 | 3.3% |
| Tyson Foods | TSN | 14.91 | $0.08 | 0.5% |
| UST Inc. | UST | 57.9 | $2.75 | 5.0% |
| Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. | WDR | 34.18 | $2.12 | 6.6% |
| Walter Industries | WLT | 34.69 | $1.37 | 4.1% |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 47.9 | $2.17 | 4.7% |
| Cimarex Energy | XEC | 38.63 | -$0.45 | -1.2% |