U.S. ethanol plants used 438 million bushels of corn for fuel alcohol in September, down 9% from August but up 1% from a year earlier, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
The figures come from the NASS Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report, released by NASS. Total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses was 485 million bushels, down 8% from August and up 1% from September 2025. Alcohol production accounted for 92.7% of that total, and other uses made up 7.3%.
Part of the monthly decline reflects the calendar. August had 31 days and September had 30, so the month-to-month comparison carries one fewer day of production.
Dry mills did most of the grinding. They used 404 million bushels for fuel ethanol, or 92.2% of fuel use, while wet mills used 34 million bushels. Corn for beverage alcohol totaled 3.11 million bushels, down 6% from August and 15% from a year earlier. Industrial alcohol took 7.9 million bushels.
Feed co-product output followed the grind lower. Dry mills produced 1.70 million tons of distillers dried grains with solubles, or DDGS, down 8% from August and down less than 1% from September 2025. Distillers wet grains with 65% or more moisture rose 1% from August to 1.30 million tons, up 7% from a year earlier. Modified wet distillers grains totaled 383,798 tons.
Corn distillers oil, a key feedstock for biodiesel and renewable diesel, totaled 201,600 tons. That was down from 221,930 tons in August but up 17% from 171,938 tons a year earlier.
On the wet mill side, corn gluten feed production was 261,235 tons, down 6% from August and 5% from September 2025. Wet corn gluten feed with 40% to 60% moisture rose to 187,600 tons, up 4% from August and 14% from a year earlier. Corn gluten meal output was 99,072 tons, and corn germ meal totaled 51,311 tons.
Dry and wet mills together captured 275,487 tons of carbon dioxide, down from 292,187 tons in August but up from 256,605 tons a year earlier.
NASS said it receives about 130 reports a month, representing about 90% of total ethanol capacity, and estimates the rest. The agency revises each month's data the following month based on late or corrected reports, so the September figures may change in the next release.
