August 2014 Newsle er
From the General Manager’s Desk
Board of Managers

Jeff Torluemke
Chairman
Strong Margins Con nue
The ethanol industry con nues to be blessed with posi ve crush margins. Ethanol produc on across the industry has been strong throughout the summer. The industry is currently producing around 14.5
billions gallons per year, and we have seen some of the highest ever
weekly produc on numbers. Fortunately, we have also experienced
Derek Peine
strong gasoline and ethanol demand that has tempered the high proGeneral Manager
duc on rates. Current cash ethanol pricing in Chicago is around $2.15
per gallon, while cash Los Angeles pricing is $2.30 per gallon and cash New York Harbor pricing is $2.26 per gallon.

Dick Sterrett
Vice-Chairman

Ben Dickman
Secretary

Brian Baalman
Manager

Ron Blaesi
Manager
The story as of late has been the progress of the corn crop. The USDA con nues to report
very strong progress for this year’s corn harvest, which has put downward pressure on corn
pricing. We have seen corn pricing fall from $5.15 in late April down to the current pricing of
around $3.65 per bushel. For Oakley and Western Kansas in general, we are experiencing
some ghtness in old crop grain supplies, and as such we have been experiencing fairly strong
grain basis. But the good news is that even with the higher basis, we are s ll able to maintain
posi ve crush margins.
The rail roads con nue to be congested throughout the country, and the expected large crop
harvest is expected to provide addi onal pressure with rail transporta on. We do send a
good por on of our ethanol out via rail. Thus far we have only had minimal impact with rail
shipments; however, we remain vigilant as we know that it is likely that the overall rail situaon for the country will get worse before it gets be er.
Join and Win!
As supporters of ethanol, it is important that
we all get involved and con nue to support
our industry.
Join Growth Energy as an Individual Member
for just $15. Sign up by August 31 and you
could win 200 hours usage of a CR8090 New
Holland Combine or a NASCAR Race Package.
Go to www.GrowthEnergy.org to sign up and
to see more details.
Update on the Digester
We are currently pursuing arbitra on proceedings
between ourselves, the technology provider and the
design/builder of the project. As such, we are limited on what we can share with regards to the current status of the digester opera ons. Notwithstanding, we con nue to focus efforts on opera ng
the facility to provide enough economic incen ves to
offset the day-to-day opera onal costs. Today, we
are u lizing predominantly manure and paunch as
the feedstock and we are producing methane gas,
although not at 100% design.

Scott Foote
Manager

Gary Johnson
Manager

Dave Mann
Manager

Jeff Roskam
Manager
Did You Know:
Despite the nega ve publicity, E10 can
be used in small engines! See for
yourself at these engine manufacturer’s websites:
Briggs and Stra on
www.briggsandstra on.com/us/en/
support/faqs/fuel-recommenda ons
Tecumseh
www.tecumsehpower.com/
CustomerService/OperatorManuals/
pdf/181-1275-14.pdf
Kohler
www.kohlerengines.com/
maintenance/faqs.htm?lang=en
Western Plains Energy, LLC Newsletter
Financial Review
WPE has had a strong financial performance through the first 9
months of the fiscal year. In comparing the financials for the first
9-months of FY-2014 to the same me period in FY-2013, there
con nues to be substan al improvement. Specifically, net income has improved from a nega ve result in FY-2013 to a posi ve
income in FY-2014. This improvement represents nearly $0.95
per gallon improvement in crush margin. In comparing the two
me periods, ethanol produc on volume was almost iden cal,
total grain costs were reduced by 36.2%, and total ethanol and
dis ller revenues were decreased by 11.9%. For the first 9months in FY-2104, ethanol represented 82.9% of all revenue
versus 74.9% in FY-2013, and grain costs represented 80.8% of all
Costs of Goods Sold in FY-2014 versus 87.3% in FY-2013.
A er 10 years of opera on, the 10-year tax abatement for the
ethanol plant has expired. As such, the balance sheet reflects this
change with the removal of the offse ng Gove County IRB and
Lease commitments.
Page 2
Distiller Grains Marketing
As of July 1st, WPE started marke ng their own dis ller grains.
WPE has enjoyed a 10-year long rela onship with United BioEnergy as the dis ller marketer, and we wish to thank Kelly Vickers and
the en re UBE group for their service.
Tim Lehman has been hired to fulfill the dis ller marke ng role.
Tim will also manage the logis cal func ons of the Western Plains
Trucking. He joined the WPE team with a strong background in
grain merchandising and risk management experiences, working
most recently with Dodge City Co-Op.
We are working hard to develop direct rela onships with our customers and to provide them with valuable customer service. If you
are interested in dis llers, please stop in or give Tim a call at
785.672.8810.
WPE has re-paid all short-term debt commitments and is within
all financial covenants.
Ethanol is a renewable resource, a clean burning fuel, and most importantly it is the lowest cost of octane available! This means that every gallon of gasoline that contains ethanol is having a direct effect in
lowering the price that we pay at the pump.
Update on the Renewable Fuels Standard
The fight con nues! There have been several pieces of legisla on introduced in the last several months that seek to minimize or eliminate
the RFS. In fact, U.S. Congressman Tim Huelskamp, who represents the 1st District of Kansas which includes WPE’s plant and all but one
of the Kansas ethanol plants, has co-sponsored H.B. 4286 which seeks to phase out the RFS by December 31, 2018. As a representa ve of
the 9th largest ethanol produc on state and one of the top 10 agricultural producing states, I have asked Congressman Huelskamp to
remove his name from H.B. 4286. I encourage you to also get involved and speak up for our industry!