ADM is engaged in the food production business including procuring, transporting, storing, processing and selling agricultural commodities and products. The company is divided into three major business segments: Oil Seed Processing (31.7% of total fiscal 2007 ending 6/30/07 income), Corn Processing 12.3%, and Agricultural Services (44.9%), with other agriculture food related income providing the remaining 11.1%. U.S. sales are 55% of total sales, German sales are 15%, and other foreign sales are 30%

ADM is the largest publicly-owned producer of ethanol in the U.S. with the capacity to produce over 1.7 billion gallons per year with about half of that capacity added in 2006 and 2007. ADM's ethanol production capacity, as of the end of 2007, well above the next largest publicly-owned company, VeraSun Energy.

ADM is currently working on two projects funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. One is finding ways to convert corn fiber into either biofuels or animal feed. The other is to develop yeasts that can be used to produce ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. In January of 2008 ADM announced a joint venture to explore the potential for a biodiesel industry based on Jatropha, a plant that can grow in just about any type of soil ranging from the tropics to marginal deserts.

In April 2007 ADM announced that in a joint venture with Metabolix, Inc. they will produce Mirel Natural Plastics though a joint venture company called Telles. Mirel is a family of natural plastics that are biobased and thus completely biodegradable. The Telles plant will be in Clinton, IA and is expected to start up in 2008. It will produce 110 million pounds of Mirel per year.

VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE)

VeraSun Energy and US BioEnergy Corp. (BIOF) completed their merger on April 1, 2008. Under the merger agreement, each outstanding share of US Bioenergy was converted into 0.810 shares of VeraSun. The combined entities will operate under the name of VeraSun Energy with the existing ticker symbol of VSE on the NTSE. With the merger, the new company will become the 2nd largest ethanol producer in the U.S. behind ADM and will represent about 13% of the total ethanol production capacity in the U.S.

With the completion of the merger, VeraSun owns and operates 10 dry-milling ethanol production facilities with an annual capacity of 980 million gallons per year. Seven other facilities are currently under construction or development. By the end of 2008 the company expects to have 16 production facilities in operation with a capacity of about 1.64 billion gallons per year, making VeraSun the largest publicly-owned ethanol producer in the U.S.

VeraSun markets E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline for use in Flexible Fuel Vehicles, directly to fuel retailers under the brand VE85™. VeraSun now has about 150 VE85™ retail locations under contract in more than 15 states and Washington, D.C.

In October 2007, VeraSun had announced that it was suspending construction of its 110 million gallon/yr bio-refinery in Reynolds, IN due market conditions for ethanol. However, also in October 2007, the company announced the start of construction for a new 120 million gallon oil extraction facility to take advantage of a new technology that will permit corn oil to be extracted from distiller grain that is a co-product of ethanol production.

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (NYSE: AVR)

Aventine is a leading producer and marketer of ethanol in the U.S. based on both the number of gallons produced and number of gallons sold. Aventine produced 192.0 million gallons of ethanol at its own facilities in 2007 making it the sixth largest publically-owned producer in the U.S., according to data from the Renewable Fuels Association.

However, Aventine also has a large operation marketing both its own and other ethanol producers' ethanol. From its three sources of ethanol (internal production, marketing-alliance partners, and third-party producer-marketers), Aventine marketed 690.2 million gallons of ethanol in 2007 which, according to the company, is about 10% of the total U.S production. That is down from the 695.8 million gallons and 13% of the total U.S production in 2006.

The company also earns revenue from the sale of co-products created during the corn fermentation process (such as corn gluten feed and corn germ) and by-products (such as free brewers' yeast and carbon dioxide). The percentage of revenue from Aventine's various sources in 2007 was: sales of manufactured and purchased ethanol (93.7%), sales of co-products (5.7%), and sales of bio-products (0.6%).

As of December 2007 Aventine has signed additional marketing alliance contracts which are expected to produce an additional 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol per year when completed. Of this amount 416 million gallons per year is currently under construction and 1.1 billion gallons per year is under development but not yet under construction. Aventine is also exploring the production of ethanol from cellulosic plant biomass.

Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX)

Pacific Ethanol produces ethanol in its own plants and also purchases ethanol from third party suppliers for sale in the western U.S. The company owns and operates two ethanol plants with a total production capacity of 80 million gallons per year (mmgy) and according to data from the Renewable Fuels Association, was the 18th largest publically held producer in the U.S. in 2007

The company has two additional production facilities under construction in Idaho and California which are expected to begin production in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008. The company intends to expand it annual production capacity to 220 mmgy by the end of 2008 and to 420 mmgy by 2010. The company is also exploring the use of other feedstocks, such as cellulosic plant biomass, to supplement corn as the basic raw material used in the production of ethanol

Pacific Ethanol sells ethanol as a merchant, as a producer and as an agent. When acting as a merchant of producer, the company enters into a sales contract which is fulfilled from the company's own production or from purchase contracts with third party suppliers. When acting as an agent for third party suppliers the company conducts back-to-back purchases and sales for a predetermined service fee.

The company believes that it has a competitive advantage due to its location in California. The company has developed a distribution network for delivery of ethanol by truck to virtually every significant fuel terminal throughout California and other western states.

The Andersons Inc (Nasdaq: ANDE)

The Andersons, Inc was founded in 1947 and is organized into five groups: Grain & Ethanol Group (63% of total revenue in 2007), Rail Group (5%), Plant Nutrient Group (20%), Turf & Specialty Group (4%), and Retail Group (8%).

Within the Grain & Ethanol Group, ethanol related revenue in 2007 was earned from ethanol production, management fees, corn origination fees, ethanol marketing fees and marketing fees for distillers dried grains (DDG) which is a byproduct of the ethanol production process. Ethanol related revenue totaled $272.2 million in 2007, up over +1,100% from 2006. That represents 18% of the Group's total revenue in 2007, up from 2.7% in 2006. While, ethanol related revenue was only 11.4% of the company's total revenue in 2007, illustrating that ethanol is still a small part of the company's operation, that is up from only 2.7% in 2006, which illustrates the emphasis the company is putting on ethanol.

In 2007, according to data from the Renewable Fuels Association, the company was the fourth largest publically-owned ethanol producer in the U.S. The company says that it intends to increase its service offerings to the ethanol industry in the coming years.

The Andersons is also currently a minority investor in Lansing Trading Group, LLC , an international trading company, and says that it plans to increase its ownership interest to 47% in 2008. Since the Lansing Trading Group intends to increase its trading capabilities, including ethanol trading, that will give The Andersons a further opportunity to expand outside its traditional geographic regions.

MGP Ingredients Inc (Nasdaq: MGPI)

MGP Ingredients was incorporated in 1957 and in September of 2007 reorganized into three divisions: Ingredient Solutions, Distillery Products, and Other.

The Ingredient Products division produces specialty wheat starch and protein products for food and non-food applications. In 2007 there was a sharp increase in wheat gluten sales due to problems with contaminated gluten from China. The company believes that that was a short-term event, however, and plans to maintain its long-term focus on its value-added wheat protein solutions. The Ingredient Products produced about 26% of the company's total revenue in 2007.

The Distillery division produces food-grade alcohol for beverages and for industrial use as well as fuel-grade alcohol (ethanol) along with the ethanol-production byproducts of distiller dried grain (DDG) and carbon dioxide. The Distillery Products division produced about 73% of the company's total revenue in 2007.

According to data provided by the Renewable Fuels Association, MGP produced about 78 million gallons of ethanol in 2007 making it the 19th largest publically-owned producer in the U.S. According to the company, MPG is one of the three largest providers of food-grade alcohol in the US.

Xethanol Corp (AMEX: XNL)

Xethanol Corp. is a renewable and clean energy company that has recently broadened it business strategy to pursue opportunities in biomass gasification for electricity production, wind power, energy storage, energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, waste recycling, and agricultural processes.

The company is currently operating one ethanol plant in Blairstown, Iowa at a rate of about 5.6 million gallons per year (mmgy) using corn feedstock. The company, however, is considering reducing the plant's output in order to reduce its losses. It has also indefinitely delayed the previously planned construction of a second plant at the same location. Both actions are due to the poor ethanol market conditions.

In December 2007, the company announced it intention to build a demonstration plant for converting citrus peel waste into ethanol and is currently negotiating an agreement to locate the plant at an existing citrus facility in Florida owned by one of the largest citrus processors in the state. The company plans to finance the plant using federal and state government grants as well as private equity.

The company also has R&D agreements with leading national laboratories and universities but has so far been unable to commercialize any of the technologies identified under those agreements.

In January 2008 the company invested in Carbon Motors Corp that is developing a vehicle featuring a clean diesel engine that can run on biodiesel fuel. It also invested in Consus Ethanol, LLC that is building an ethanol plant using waste coal to power the plant.