Flint Hills Resources Menlo Staff Teach Students about Ethanol Production

(Atlantic News Telegraph) On Oct. 15, staff from the Flint Hills Resources Menlo ethanol plant participated in “On the Trail of Iowa Corn,” a field trip and educational opportunity for area third graders to learn about farm and food topics. Nearly 100 students, teachers and parent chaperones from Adair-Casey, Nodaway Valley and Orient-Macksburg elementary schools participated in the event sponsored by the local nonprofit, Ag 4 All.

Students learned about the parts and functions of a corn plant; how corn producers care for the environment; how to identify corn pests and the technology used in pest control; how a combine works, and how corn is used for both feed and fuel. Prior to the field trip, the students read and discussed the book, “My Family’s Corn Farm.”

The Flint Hills Menlo volunteers created a hands-on learning station that taught students the steps by which corn is converted into ethanol, dried distillers’ grains and distillers’ corn oil.

“Processing corn into the products we make is really technical, and sometimes the process is hard for people to understand,” said Rachel Connor, a grain merchandiser at Flint Hills Menlo. “Our plant volunteers really enjoyed working to make a hands-on presentation for the kids, so they could learn about what we do with local farmers’ corn.”

The mission of Ag 4 All is to build agricultural literacy skills across generations. The group features three initiatives: “Ag Adventure Goes to School,” “Ag Adventure in the Community,” and the “Who’s Your Iowa Farmer?” Facebook page. The group’s work includes STEM family events and presentations at community festivals throughout the year. The group and its volunteers create hands-on agriculture stations to help all ages understand how food, fiber and fuel are produced.

“We want to do more than put a face on agriculture,” said Brian Rohrig, board member for Ag 4 All. “We want to expose the public to the joys and concerns of farm life along with the feeling of what it is like to be part of a farm family.”

Presenting organizations included Flint Hills Resources, the Adair County Farm Bureau, Iowa State University, Adair County Extension Service, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service, Southwest Iowa Egg Cooperative, Wyffels Hybrids and Collective Aviation. Lunch was provided by the Adair County Pork Producers and the Subway restaurant in Greenfield.

About Flint Hills Resources, LLC

Flint Hills Resources is an industry leader in refining, chemicals, and biofuels and ingredients, with operations primarily in the Midwest and Texas. Its manufacturing capability is built upon six decades of refining experience, and the company has expanded its operations through capital projects and acquisitions worth more than $15 billion since 2002. Based in Wichita, Kansas, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., with more than 4,000 employees who strive to create value for customers and society.

Flint Hills Resources operates ethanol plants in Arthur, Fairbank, Iowa Falls, Menlo and Shell Rock; Fairmont, Neb.; and Camilla, Ga. The plants have a combined annual capacity of 850 million gallons of ethanol, as well as producing distillers’ corn oil, distillers’ grains and NexPro® high-protein feedstock. READ MORE