Price information is collected remotely through phone communication, email, and company websites. Contact visits are made periodically to verify the price information is accurate, unbiased and relevant to the report. Reporters reserve the right to exclude insignificant data sets and outliers that are not consistent with the majority of the trades or bids. To ensure accuracy of these reports, reporters are recertified every two years.

This report is a weekly comprehensive report that calculates the value per bushel of corn and soybeans used in ethanol and biodiesel production. Price information is released by USDA’s Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Division under the Voluntary Price Reporting authority of USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service. Values are calculated using published USDA price information from the national weekly ethanol report, national daily ethanol report, national grain and oilseed processor feedstuff report, and state point of sale grain reports. Price information on refined products and by-products are multiplied by the percent yield per bushel to calculate the relative value that each commodity adds to a bushel of corn or soybeans used in ethanol and biodiesel production. A gross margin is then calculated from the sum of values of each commodity to provide a comprehensive review of bioenergy industry.