December 18,2015-
Farms Get New Tax Breaks
On Friday, Congress passed Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH), a bill that includes two important provisions affecting farmers. The bill will permanently cap small business deductions for capital expenses at $500,000, up from the previous limit of $25,000. The PATH Bill also extends the existing bonus depreciation for the purchase of new capital assets for another 5 years at 50 percent for 2015-2017, 40 percent in 2018 and 30 percent in 2019. “These tax provisions allow farmers to reinvest in their operations – and that has a ripple effect across the entire agriculture industry and rural communities,” said National Corn Growers President Chip Bowling.
Nut Thefts Hit Local Plants
An informational conference on the rash of nut thefts held in Visalia a few weeks ago detailed the scope of the thefts in the Central Valley. According to Western Farm Press the thieves used DOT data to steal truck info and drive off with loads worth $500,000.
“Two Central Valley pistachio companies – Setton Farms and Horizon Nut Company – reported multiple loads of product stolen with what appeared to be legitimate shipping documents. Others, including Hughson Nut Company, an almond processor near Modesto, have had similar incidents in the past couple years.
In November, a single load of pistachio kernels valued at almost $500,000 was stolen from Horizon Nut Company in Tulare after a trucker presented what appeared to be legitimate paperwork. That load was never recovered.
About the same time a processor of cashews in Fresno had six loads stolen before officials caught on.”
Pacific Ethanol Begins Commercial Production of Cellulosic Ethanol at Its Stockton Plant
– Seeks EPA Approval to Qualify for High-Value D3 Cellulosic RINs –
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX), a leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the United States, announced it is now producing cellulosic ethanol at its Stockton, CA facility using Edeniq, Inc.’s Pathway Technology.
Neil Koehler, the company’s president and CEO, stated, “We are now commercially producing cellulosic ethanol using Edeniq’s Pathway enzyme at our Stockton facility. This is an important step in our strategy to increase production yields at our plants and our mission to be the leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels. We are working with Edeniq and the Environmental Protection Agency to qualify these gallons for generating D3 cellulosic RINs, which carry a premium over conventional ethanol, and we expect to receive EPA approval in the first quarter of 2016.”
Edeniq’s Pathway Technology integrates Edeniq’s Cellunator™ high shear equipment with cellulase enzymes to convert corn kernel fiber to fermentable sugars. Edeniq’s Pathway Technology includes a proprietary technical validation process that enables customers to quantify the amount of cellulosic ethanol produced within their plants and comply with the registration, recordkeeping, and reporting required by the EPA to generate cellulosic D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as defined by the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“Our Pathway Technology enables ethanol plants to produce cellulosic ethanol directly in existing fermentation vessels at a very low cost,” said Brian Thome, President and CEO of Edeniq. “Pacific Ethanol’s production of cellulosic ethanol is an important landmark for both of our companies, and for the ethanol industry.”
The Stockton plant, a facility with a production capacity of 60 million gallons per year, is expected to produce up to 750,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol with the Pathway process.