Lamberton, Oct 7 - Students from Southwest Star Concept School from Okabena visited Highwater Ethanol on Oct 4 to learn about ethanol production.

“We are always pleased to share our story with students. These tours give us an opportunity to showcase the ethanol process here at Highwater, as well as the vital role our industry plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, bolstering rural economies, providing savings at the pump and moving us closer to energy independence,” said Brian Kletscher, CEO of Highwater Ethanol.

The students that participated in the tour were from the school’s crop production and agriculture classes.

During the tour, they were briefed on the various stages of ethanol production such as incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distiller’s grain production and storage, ethanol storage and shipment.

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). Highwater Ethanol is a member of MN Bio-Fuels. 

Jessica Daberkow, agriculture education instructor at Southwest Star Concept School, accompanied her students for the tour.

“My students had an opportunity to better understand the process of converting corn into ethanol and see how a local, raw material can be converted into something that consumers use on a daily basis. This was also a great opportunity for students whose parents are growing corn for ethanol production to see what happens once that corn leaves their farms,” she said.