(AP) -- DES MOINES, Iowa - As the price of corn tumbled in the last six months of 2008, so did the price of ethanol, leaving producers with little profits.
That trend turned worse in December. Iowa State University Extension economist Don Hofstrand says the average ethanol plant made zero profit that month.
And Hofstrand isn't optimistic about 2009. He says higher corn production costs will increase the cost of production.
The news isn't much better for corn producers.
The National Corn Growers Association was looking to use the economic stimulus package to pay for rebuilding locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River to speed movement of grain barges.
But the project is not far enough along to qualify for stimulus money, and getting money will be more difficult after the stimulus package is off the table.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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