Casey’s receives biodiesel marketing award from Iowa’s agriculture secretary

Photo: Casey's General Stores

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Jan. 11 that the winners of the 2022 Renewable Fuels Marketing Awards are Danlee Corp. and Casey’s General Stores. The awards were created to recognize fuel marketers that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to promote and sell renewable fuels.

“Renewable fuels create additional markets for agricultural products and jobs in rural communities,” Naig said. “Consumers benefit from cleaner-burning fuels and more choices at the pump. I’m pleased to present the renewable fuels marketing awards to Danlee Corp. and Casey’s General Stores for their efforts to increase access to and demand for ethanol and biodiesel.”

The winners were recognized during the FUELIowa annual meeting Jan. 11.

Secretary’s Biodiesel Marketing Award—Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores was founded in 1959 and has taken significant steps to add increasingly more biodiesel to its stations in Iowa. Currently, there are more than 1,000 Casey’s stores offering homegrown biodiesel blends.

Casey’s General Stores is now offering B11 at all of its Iowa locations that offer diesel, with plans to pursue higher blends of biodiesel. The company has also incorporated on-site blending facilities into its store portfolio and transitioned its fleet vehicles in Iowa to run on at least B5 year-round.

Casey’s was nominated by FUELIowa, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Iowa Biodiesel Board.

Secretary’s Ethanol Marketing Award—Danlee Corp.

Danlee Corp. is a family-owned and Iowa-based fuel retailer with 13 fueling stations across the state. Headquartered in Marshalltown with offices in Indianola, partners Dan Moellers and Lee Adams formed the company in 1992 by leasing a convenience store.

Danlee Corp. has made significant capital investments to make E15 available at four of its current locations, with plans to add two more this spring. In recent years, it has participated in the USDA Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program and the Renewable Fuels Retail Recovery Program.

Danlee Corp. was nominated by FUELIowa, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Iowa Renewable Fuels Industry

Iowa leads the nation in biofuels production with 3.7 billion gallons of ethanol produced in 2020 and 351 million gallons of biodiesel produced in 2020.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program offers cost-share grants to help fuel retailers install E85 dispensers, blender pumps, biodiesel dispensers and biodiesel storage facilities. To date, the state has invested more than $42 million in the program. The grant program is managed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.