The study notes that in 2015, the ethanol industry spent $1.5 billion on the corn needed to produce 1.2 billion gallons of ethanol. The total amount of corn used as 423 million bushels which accounts for about 30 percent of the total corn harvest in Minnesota.

But it doesn't end there as purchasing corn from Minnesota farmers stimulates additional activity.

For example, corn farmers who supply feedstock to the ethanol industry also purchase other goods such as fertilizer and pesticides. Producers of those goods, in turn, also purchase products from a different range of industries. These, ABF Economics says, are referred to as backward linkages.

As a result of ethanol production in Minnesota in 2015, the agriculture sector in the state generated $2.37 billion in gross sales. This in turn supported 9,016 full-time jobs in the state.  

As such, it is clear that the ethanol industry plays an important role in Minnesota's agriculture industry.