Collin PetersonHouse Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), along with two members of Congress from South Dakota, Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D) and Sen. John Thune (R), participated in the annual South Dakota Corn Growers convention on Saturday.

Naturally, a big part of the convention’s focus was on ethanol.

Here is the kernel of the Congressfolks’ remarks, as reported by the Argus Leader:

Extending the ethanol bonanza South Dakota has enjoyed to other regions of the country where ethanol can be made from feedstocks other than corn is a major goal for new farm legislation, Peterson said.

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“We have to develop the biomass feedstocks,” he said. That should not adversely affect the corn-based ethanol industry here, Thune said.

“Corn ethanol is fine,” he said. The challenge for Congress: “Don’t screw it up.”

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If that is Congress’s vision, don’t expect any major legislative changes that would threaten to unseat King Corn as the main ethanol feedstock in the heartland. Switchgrass? That’s fine for Vermont …