Unlocking Sugars From Plants & Cold Weather Hits Ethanol Prod.

**University of California researchers are sharing new findings on how to access the sugars locked up in plant materials to convert byproducts into new feedstocks to produce fuels, materials and chemicals.

Tina Jeoh, UC Davis professor of biological and ag engineering, says the findings, published in the journal Green Chemistry, can help lower the technological barrier and make it easier for the sustainable conversion of plant material, including agricultural byproducts.

**A blast of cold weather in the Corn Belt sent ethanol production down 22% last week to its lowest point in three years.

Bloomberg says America’s output of the corn-based biofuel missed all its survey estimates while stockpiles hit the highest level since March.

The Energy Information Administration says the rise in stockpiles was the eighth straight week of increases.

Ethanol production dropped to the lowest level since February 2021.

**The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association reiterates its call to strengthen and establish a national animal identification system that works for and is accountable to all producers.

They want no private control of data or access to the data without the prior approval of the listed owner.

All official USDA tag information should be held in state animal health databases and shared with federal health officials only as needed.