Environmental safety of corn ethanol up for debate

Driving down a county road on the way to a Driftless trout stream recently, I was surprised to see a stretch of the road where there was corn growing in the right-of-way nearly up to the asphalt. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, given the news that corn planted area in the U.S. for all purposes in 2016 is estimated at 94.1 million acres, up 7 percent from last year. It’s everywhere, even on some slopes and soils vulnerable to erosion.

According to the U.S Department of Agricutlure, this represents the third-highest planted acreage in the United States since 1944. Wisconsin’s share of the total is 4.2 million acres, up from 4 million last year.