By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

HENNEPIN, Ill. — A fledgling ethanol plant in Putnam County in north-central Illinois is trying to deal with road weight restrictions for semis that could cause the company to be less competitive in the dried distillers grain (DDG) export market. Hennepin-based Marquis Energy, LLC, was told by the Putnam County Board in March that the company’s special request to increase overweight semi traffic to as many as 100 vehicles per day along a county road leading to the plant had been denied. 

The decision left Marquis officials wondering how they could stay competitive in the DDG export market. DDGs are often transported in steel shipping containers on semi trucks and trailers that weigh 90,000 pounds or more. Company spokesman Gary Miller said that in order to satisfy Marquis’ customers in China and remain competitive in price, the trucks must be overloaded. The 1.3-mile stretch of rural road in question is designed to hold only 80,000 pounds.

“If we were restricted to 80,000 pounds, it would throw us out of (the DDG) market by about $14 a ton,” Miller said.

“We don’t want to do anything to harm the business, but we have an obligation to maintain the roads for the rest of the people,” explained county board chairman Duane Calbow.

Other truckers and conventional grain haulers had complained to the board and county law enforcement about the presence of the overweight trucks on county roads since last November, according to Putnam County Sheriff Kevin Doyle. At least one truck driver was fined when a trooper stopped the truck and found it weighed 88,000 pounds. The sheriff’s department will continue to ticket overweight semis in the area, Doyle told board members.

Marquis company officials are still hoping to reach a compromise with the board to allow overweight semis to operate near the ethanol plant. A per-truck road maintenance fee had been offered by Marquis, but board members said they were not interested in engaging in a complicated county permitting process to establish and collect the fees.

“For the safety of our people and the safety of the roads, we can’t allow more than 80,000 pounds,” said board member Chauntelle Biagi-Breur.

Construction of an alternate route to ESK Road, where the plant is located, is under study by the county. County engineer George Meister told the board in January that Hennepin Township had obtained the right of way for the alternate route. Company officials could not be reached for comment by Farm World concerning the alternate road at press time.

Located 45 miles north of Peoria on the Illinois River, the plant produces around 110 million gallons of ethanol per year along with 330,000 pounds of DDGs and 1.7 million pounds of corn oil. Marquis purchases around 40 million bushels of corn per year from Illinois producers.

The state averaged .05 of inch of precipitation, a departure of minus .92  of an inch for the period.

Schaffner said as soon as last weekend’s rain clouds left the Peoria area he would begin preparing for soybean planting. Taylor said he hoped to begin planting soybeans by the end of this week, and was already looking forward to planting sweet corn, peas and Lima beans to grow and sell to a nearby Del Monte processing plant in Mendota.