Corn Use for Ethanol Hits New High as E15 Adoption Gains Momentum
The US corn used for ethanol production in July rose to 475 million bushels, up 2% from June and 4% from July 2025. This represents over 92% of total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses, which reached 528 million bushels.
The majority of this corn was processed by dry mills, accounting for nearly 93% of corn used for fuel ethanol. In addition to the increase in ethanol production, there were also significant increases in co-product output, including distillers dried grains with solubles and wet distillers grains.
This growth in ethanol production is seen as a positive sign for corn growers, reinforcing the importance of domestic fuel markets heading into harvest. The increased demand for corn is also creating opportunities for other crops, such as sorghum, which could benefit from California's adoption of E15.