POET’s April 7, 2020 announcement concerned an estimated reduction in buyer demand—not 110 million bushels of corn physically disappearing or a measured loss to individual farmers. The company said idling three ethanol plants and delaying a fourth plant’s startup would reduce annualized corn demand by 110 million bushels and affect 330 million gallons of ethanol production. Those were company estimates made during the COVID-19 fuel-demand shock, not a current forecast.
What POET announced in April 2020
POET said it would idle production at Ashton and Coon Rapids, Iowa, and Chancellor, South Dakota. It also delayed the startup of its Shelbyville, Indiana, plant. The company estimated the four changes would affect 330 million gallons of ethanol production and reduce annualized corn demand by 110 million bushels. Successful Farming reported the announcement and estimates; POET’s announcement was republished by Biomass Magazine.
The timing mattered. The announcement came amid pandemic-related declines in fuel demand, weak oil-market conditions and reduced export demand. POET founder and CEO Jeff Broin described the pressures in the company’s April 7 statement: “Unfortunately, plummeting fuel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed markets already suffering from continued trade barriers, a foreign price war over oil and regulatory uncertainty here at home.”
What “110 million bushels” means for farmers
Annualized corn demand is an estimate of how much corn buyers would need over a year at a given rate of operation. When plants stop producing or a startup is delayed, they buy less corn than they otherwise might have. The 110 million figure therefore describes expected reduced demand associated with the four facility changes, expressed at an annual rate.
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- It is not a count of corn destroyed, left unharvested or removed from storage.
- It is not a calculation of how much income any one farmer lost.
- It does not establish how much corn ultimately went unsold, whether other buyers absorbed some supply, or how prices changed for an individual grower.
POET president and COO Jeff Lautt told Successful Farming, “There is no market that has a bigger impact on corn prices than biofuels.” That statement describes the company’s view of biofuels’ importance to corn markets; it does not quantify the price effect of these specific idlings. The sources do not independently audit the 110-million-bushel estimate.
What was expected for workers
Successful Farming reported that 130 employees were expected to be temporarily furloughed, citing Lautt. That was an expected count reported in 2020, not a verified final furlough total.
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What changed later at Shelbyville
POET later announced an expansion of its Shelbyville facility. In January 2026, the company announced plans to increase annual bioethanol capacity from 98 million to 193 million gallons. In June 2026, it said construction had begun, projected completion in the fourth quarter of 2027, and estimated that the expansion would add 32 million bushels of annual corn demand. These are company plans and projections; the available announcements do not verify that the expansion has been completed. POET’s January 2026 announcement and its June 2026 construction update provide the figures.
The 2026 Shelbyville projection is a later development, not a reversal that can be directly subtracted from the 2020 estimate: it concerns one facility, reflects a planned expansion, and uses a projected annual demand figure. The available sources do not establish the present operating status of every plant named in the 2020 announcement.
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How to read the figures by date and status
| Date and facility | Announced status | Corn demand figure | Ethanol capacity or production figure | What the figure establishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020: Ashton and Coon Rapids, Iowa; Chancellor, South Dakota; delayed Shelbyville, Indiana startup | POET announced idlings and a delayed startup; the sources do not establish current status of all four facilities. | 110 million bushels of reduced annualized demand, estimated by POET. | 330 million gallons of production affected, estimated by POET. | An announced, company-estimated reduction associated with the four changes—not a measured farmer loss. |
| January and June 2026: Shelbyville, Indiana expansion | POET announced the expansion and later said construction had begun; completion was projected for Q4 2027, not verified. | 32 million bushels of additional annual demand, projected by POET. | Capacity planned to rise from 98 million to 193 million gallons annually, according to POET. | A company projection for a planned expansion, not a reported completed outcome. |
Why ethanol demand matters in the broader corn market
POET’s current bioethanol page says approximately 16.2 billion gallons of U.S. bioethanol were produced in 2024 and that bioethanol was contained in 98% of gasoline sold in the United States. Those are company-published figures; the page does not state the measurement period for the gasoline claim or provide the methodology in the material reviewed. They offer broad context for ethanol’s role, but they do not measure the effect of the 2020 POET decisions on an individual farmer. POET’s bioethanol page.
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