Recognizing and appreciating your past accomplishments is essential, reminding you of how far you’ve come and the challenges you’ve overcome. However, if you dwell too long on past successes, you risk losing sight of new opportunities and growth. True progress comes from balancing gratitude for the past with a forward-focused mindset, always striving for what’s next.
This was part of a message that Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw delivered at yesterday’s Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona. Shaw started his remarks about the only constant in any marketplace, especially in agriculture, supply and demand. Shaw points out that if you look at the data, we are in a bad spot right now, even on a historical level.
When you have an economic situation like this, what does that mean to the rural economy? You don’t have to look very far to see the fallout.
Shaw puts it into perspective when you look at corn production versus demand outside of ethanol production. Supply is exponentially outpacing demand.
Shaw emphasized how the ethanol industry played a crucial role in overcoming the farm crisis of the 1980s by creating demand for the surplus production nearly four decades ago. He explained that this success came from looking ahead to new possibilities rather than relying on past solutions, helping to ease the burden on farmers. However, Shaw warned that a similar challenge is resurfacing as farmers continue to improve their corn production efficiency.
Shaw says that the ethanol industry cannot maintain the status quo and expect to create demand, it’s just not going to happen. We need to look into the future once again. He adds that trying to hang on to tightly to the past will cause us to let the future slip through our fingers, and there are a lot of countries waiting for us to let that happen.
If we don’t take the opportunity to look forward and bring prosperity back to rural America, there are others in places like Brazil and Argentina that are going to take advantage of our lack of foresight. When I was in Brazil, I saw that already happening at their ethanol plants. They are working hard on reducing carbon footprints while producing the fuel that they are already exporting to our country. If we keep allowing them to prosper because of our complacency, they are going to do it. And we won’t have anyone to blame for it but ourselves.
You can see more of Monte Shaw’s remarks in tonight’s episode of AgMatters PM.
