USDA says U.S. ethanol plants used 428 million bushels of corn in April
USDA said April corn use for ethanol fell to 428 million bushels, but still ran 1% above a year ago. Coproducts held firm as maintenance trimmed output.
USDA on June 25 said U.S. ethanol plants used 428 million bushels of corn in April, down 10% from March. The monthly grain crushings report also showed that use was up 1% from April 2025, a sign that the pull from fuel alcohol production remained steady even as spring operating patterns shifted.
About 82% of the April corn went to dry-mill fuel production and 8% to wet-mill fuel production, keeping dry milling the dominant conversion route in the U.S. ethanol system. USDA’s Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report is part of the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports program and is based on data collected from all known ethanol mills for the previous calendar month.
The coproduct stream moved in different directions. USDA said condensed distillers solubles production reached 118,328 tons in April, up from 116,098 tons in March and 111,885 tons in April 2025. Corn oil production totaled 189,215 tons, down from 202,439 tons in March but above 176,439 tons a year earlier. Those coproduct volumes feed directly into plant revenue and into feed and oil markets tied to ethanol margins.
Feed & Grain attributed the April decline in fuel alcohol production to seasonal maintenance, a common spring pressure on plant utilization. The month-over-month drop does not change the broader demand picture: USDA’s Economic Research Service says ethanol use is estimated at 5.5 billion bushels of corn in the 2025-26 marketing year, about 43% of total U.S. corn use. USDA also left its 2025-26 corn-use-for-ethanol forecast unchanged in its April 9 WASDE, signaling that the monthly dip did not alter the agency’s broader outlook for corn demand from the fuel sector.
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