United Cooperative, based out of Beaver Dam, Wis., is a full-service cooperative offering feed, grain, agronomy, and energy products and services to Wisconsin farmers and consumers.

Before 2005, United Cooperative took the first steps toward making its involvement in ethanol production a reality. United Cooperative would be the managing member of United Ethanol, LLC, an ethanol production facility with a 60,000,000-gallon-per-year permit to be constructed in Milton, Wis. The President and chief executive officer was, and still is, David A. Cramer, also president and chief executive officer of United Cooperative.

United Ethanol began operating on March 29, 2007, producing approximately 2.8 gallons of ethanol, 18 pounds of distiller’s grain, and 18 pounds of carbon dioxide from one bushel of corn. On top of generating fuel that helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make our air cleaner, United Ethanol converts approximately 45,000 bushels of corn daily. It produces about 3,900,000 gallons of ethanol per month, further supporting American farmers. In 2010, United Ethanol produced more than 123,000 tons of dry distiller’s grain and more than 8,000 tons of wet distiller’s grain, both highly valuable feed co-products of ethanol production.

About 15 percent of the corn used to make ethanol at United Ethanol comes from cropland around Milton, and the remainder is originated via the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad from rail facilities, including United Cooperative’s Ripon, Horicon, and Rock Springs grain elevators. Some of the distiller’s grain from the ethanol production process is sold locally, but the majority is exported.

United Ethanol has three bins that offer storage for 1,770,000 bushels of grain, allowing us to buy grain when the market dictates the timing is right and store it, in turn improving our profitability. Two of the three bins were part of the initial building process, and the third grain bin was constructed in 2007.

A carbon dioxide (CO2) processing facility was constructed in 2007/2008 and came on line May 15, 2008. United Ethanol signed a contract with EPCO Carbon Dioxide, Inc. for the purchase of approximately 250 tons per day of our CO2 production. In ethanol production, CO2 is a byproduct of fermentation. The CO2 recovered through the liquefaction plant is sold for use in the food processing, beverage, oil recovery, municipal water treatment, and chemical industries. In 2009, United Ethanol sold approximately 46,000 tons of CO2.

Starting in early 2011, United Ethanol incorporated corn oil extraction, which provides another income stream, cuts overall energy costs, and improves the flowability of the distiller's grain.