Com Grower Research Efforts Pay Off
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Hie
National Com Growers Associ
ation (NCGA) welcomed Car
gill Dow Polymers* announce
ment Jan. 11 about its plans for
the first commercial-scale plant
to produce polylactic acid
(PLA), a plastic from com.
Cargill Dow’s action culmi
nates research and market
development on PLA and
opens the door to a market that
could eventually consume 500
million bushels of com per
year.
Now Every GLEANER® Combine Comes
ZIMMERMAN’S FARM HERNLEY’S FARM
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1/2 Mile West off Rt. 501 Elizabethtown, PA
On School Rd., Bethel, PA 717-367-8867
717-933-4114 1-800-564-2511
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===l aL- "* Waiver period may be shorter on used models
Groundbreaking will occur
this spring at Blair, Neb., site of
a Cargill wet milling plant. The
PLA plant will be on line by late
2001. The plant will use 40,000
bushels of com per day for an
annual use of 14 million
bushels.
The plant will turn com into
polymers, small chips or pellets
of plastic-like material that
manufacturers will then pro
cess into fabrics for clothing as
well as plastics for cups, food
containers, packaging, and
GRUMELLI’S FARM
SERVICE INC.
Quarryville, PA
717-786-7318
home and office furnishings
such as carpets.
Cargill Dow emphasized that
this is the first time a renewable
resource, com, “stands alone on
price and performance.
“Our grower leaders arc
thrilled to see our efforts yield
commercialization," said Floyd
Schultz, chairman of NCGA’s
Customer and Business Deve
lopment Action Team, and a
farmer from Plainfield, HI.
“The combination of Cargill’s
expertise in com processing
Corn Talk, Uncaster Farming, Saturday, January 29, 200(M>age 21
With PLA Breakthrough
and Dow’s position as a world
leader in polymer production
and marketing should yield
important new products for
consumers and an important
new market for our most impor
tant crop."
PLA applications research
has been a priority for several
years for com growers at the
state and national levels. The
plastics industry is huge, and
PLA has great characteristics
C.J. WONSIDLER BROS.
Quakertown, PA New Tripoli, PA Oley, PA
215-536-7523 610-767-7611 610-987-6257
B. EQUIPMENT, INC.
Waynesboro, PA
717-762-3193
for new products. Fabrics made
from PLA have the feel of silk
and durability of polyester.
Other PLA products may
include plastic wrap and plastic
bottles.
The developments of PLA
and related plastics could use
500 million bushels of com per
year, nearly the level of etha
nol, which uses 500 million
bushels annually and adds
about 25 cents per bushel to the
price of com.
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