Contact: Cassidy Walter
515-252-6249

JOHNSTON, IOWA – Today Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) in Cedar Rapids has started work on launching a Monarch Fueling Station. This area is being established along with an existing garden plot that helps grow food for local food banks and charities.

ADM — with help from Kirkwood Community College Parks and Natural Resources program, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s (IRFA) Habitat Establishment Coordinator Kevin Reynolds, and the NRCS — has selected five acres to transform into a Monarch Fueling Station. They will plant a prairie grass and flower mixture, including milkweed plants, which monarchs need for laying eggs. This area is next to two acres used to grow food for local food charities (designated in green).

“The Monarch Fueling Station is an exciting project for our location and a great use of the land we have available,” said Eric McVey, plant superintendent at ADM’s corn processing facility in Cedar Rapids. “This will help establish an area for the monarch butterfly and other pollinators going forward. Over time the habitat will reduce the need for mowing, provide a scenic area to view, and help the environment. The food we grow will go straight into our local community to help those in need. Through these efforts ADM can demonstrate our core values and support our community.”

Reynolds will continue to help ADM as the plant moves forward with seeding and maintenance.

“Iowa’s biofuels plants are establishing themselves as leaders in the state-wide effort to restore the population of the monarch butterfly,” Reynolds said. “I look forward to working with ADM to make their efforts as successful as possible.”

The Monarch Fueling Station Project was established by IRFA in partnership with the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium in December 2017. It is a program to help Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel plants establish patches of monarch habitat on plant grounds. To learn more about the IRFA Monarch Fueling Station Project, contact IRFA at info@IowaRFA.org or 515-252-6249.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing nearly 4.4 billion gallons annually – including approximately 55 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 12 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 400 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.

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