Syngenta to 'Prime the Pump' with $600,000 donation

Syngenta announced last week that it will donate approximately $600,000 to the Prime the Pump Fund, an ethanol-industry initiative that helps early retail adopters of high-level industry blends reduce their initial infrastructure investments.

Syngenta started the program in 2013, which contributes $1 to the ethanol industry for every acre planted with the company’s Enogen corn-enzyme technology. It is being extended through 2016.

Syngenta Prime the Pump Fund Chairman Ray Defenbaugh said that ethanol demand needs to increase for the industry to enjoy sustainable success.

“As the ethanol blend wall has dramatically slowed demand, many steps have been taken to increase ethanol’s availability in the U.S. market,” Defenbaugh said. “Most notable was when the Environmental Protection Agency allowed the use of gasoline blends containing as much as 15 percent ethanol in vehicle models from 2001 and newer. But the approval of E15 was just the first step.”

Defenbaugh said the Prime the Pump Fund supports the company’s strategy of aiding high-volume, progressive-minded, industry-leading fuel retailers, who demonstrate the performance, cost savings and profit opportunity of marketing higher ethanol blends, such as E15.

Enogen is the industry’s only corn bioengineered specifically to enhance ethanol production, which adds value to ethanol plants, corn growers and rural communities.

Syngenta Enogen Head Jack Bernens said the company is pleased to continue its financial support of the ethanol industry.

“Last year, our dollar-per-acre donation to growth energy was used to make flex-fuels more accessible and provide consumers with a choice at the gas pump,” Bernens said. “We are proud to build on that momentum this year with a $225,000 donation, based on the Enogen acres planted in 2015, and we look forward to the additional contribution based on the 2016 Enogen-planted acres.”