Biomass Rules Blog students who were working ahead on last week’s crude oil and corn price comparison likely hit an impasse when downloading the monthly corn price data from USDA. The USDA, National Ag Statistics Service (NASS), Quick Stats monthly … Continue reading →
Number 2 Yellow Corn plays many roles these days. Among them both ‘sustainable savior,’ as well as, ‘destroyer of humanity and the planet.’ That is a pretty broad range. Back in the good old days, 20 years ago, corn was … Continue reading →
Biomass Rules takes inventory of locally available, undervalued wastes, and finds higher valued markets through which move these once-upon-a-time liabilities back into the economy. Sometimes straw may be a feedstock into feed, fertility or biofuel products. Biomass Rules is the … Continue reading →
The last few years have been an inflationary roller coaster. On September 26, nearly 50 years of US inflation was used to illustrate HOW NOT TO USE inflation (spurious correlation). Part of understanding what charts of inflation actually mean, is … Continue reading →
It is an election year, and the number of charts showing the economy-wide influences by a single factor are up. A recent chart making a thin claim about the cause of inflation struck me as a similar rhythm to my … Continue reading →
Moving averages are the most basic tool, taught in undergraduate courses as an introduction to forecasting. Prior to the pandemic, commodity futures charts were the go-to illustration of the benefits of moving averages for undergraduate students. Moving averages smooth out the … Continue reading →
Twenty years ago the State of Indiana asked question, “Does a rural community produce sufficient organic wastes to provide energy for the community?” Fortuitously, Indiana’s BioTown, USA project invited Biomass Rules, LLC to help answer the question. Today’s table summarizes … Continue reading →
Hemp seeds command a premium price. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) now reports weekly hemp product prices. In the September 11, 2024 report, one pound of hemp seeds was reported at $12.64. That is down from $14.39 per pound the … Continue reading →
As an economist, I have been trained to see the world through a lens of critical thinking. As a manure visionary, I have been trained to look beyond traditional monetary values to measure both benefits and costs. If and when … Continue reading →
Cell addresses in spreadsheets, by default are relative objects. This means that when a formula is copied in Excel the relationship to adjacent cells that are included in the copied cell formula, also gets copied. If the cell to the … Continue reading →
