Levelland ethanol plant provides market for Plainview-area milo

While the main purpose of building the Levelland Hockley County Ethanol facility was, of course, to produce ethanol, a significant role for the plant was to provide a stable market for area sorghum producers.

That message was driven home recently by one of the facility’s farmer/investors, David Albus.

Levelland Hockley County Ethanol, LLC, the 40-million gallon capacity facility near here, makes its ethanol from sorghum, not corn.

At a recent luncheon and tour of the plant, Albus explained that farmers around the community "were really adamant" about the plant’s ability to use sorghum.

He said they wanted a viable market for their milo other than on the West Coast, and area feedlots traditionally have preferred corn in their feed ration.

As it turns out, according to Chase Lane, process and operations manager/tour guide, the Levelland facility actually began on corn.

Conversion to grain sorghum was no problem, though, he said.

In general terms, Lane explained, the cooking process for sorghum requires a different enzyme, and since the corn flour is ground more coarsely, the plant had to use different screens for the flour to pass through.

In reality, Lane said, there are no major conversion issues.

Plant general manager Sam Sacco echoed that and said the size of the Levelland facility is a key factor in its viability. That is because it does not use more grain sorghum than the region can produce, although it can expand its capacity if the local availability of milo dictates.

In other words, he said, area farmers aren’t likely to out-produce his plant.

Sacco said Levelland Hockley County Ethanol consumes approximately 15 million bushels of sorghum per year and grinds about 40,000 bushels a day.

If farmers have sorghum to sell, "We’ll buy it," he said.

"One thing we do present is a 24/7 market," he said, adding that the plant operates 365 days a year.

From a purchasing standpoint, Sacco said, the plant offers producers prices that are competitive. His facility pays about the same price as northern plants pay for corn.

Assistant commodity manager Celia Reyes said on Sept. 22 the plant paid $5.71 per 100 wt., or $3.20 per bushel, based off of the Chicago Board of Trade.

Sacco said one of the philosophical things his facility wants to do is encourage area growers to use grain sorghum as part of their rotation.

"We’re not trying to take acres away from cotton," he said, adding that at one time producers actively rotated crops.

Unfortunately, Sacco continued, it reached the point where they could not make good money on milo, so they stopped growing it other than as a second crop behind failed cotton.

Now he hopes that will change.Sacco cited one area grower as an example of what can be accomplished.He said that farmer is planting less cotton acres but still getting comparable yields because of his rotation practices. At the same time, he is doing very good with sorghum.

"If planted at the appropriate time and irrigated, (milo) can produce up to 12,000 pounds per acre," Sacco said. "That’s equivalent to 200 bushels per acre, which is equivalent to what people do up north with corn.

"That was done this year and (the yield) certified by Lubbock County (agriculture Extension) agents," he continued.

For Albus, that is the point of having the Levelland plant use sorghum, and he is benefitting both as a farmer and as an investor. He has a place to sell his crop and Levelland Hockley County Ethanol has proven to be a reliable and stable business.

"It’s really the best of both worlds," he said.

source: myplainview