OTTAWA — The federal government will give GreenField Ethanol, at Johnstown, $110.2 million over the next seven years and $7.3 million in a repayable loan through the ecoAgriculture Biofuels program.

The funding was the federal government’s way of ensuring that ethanol companies get through their first seven years of production and Canada gets an ample supply of ethanol to meet government targets. The safety net program, across Canada, will cost $1.5 billion.

Alain Leduc, former president of Seaway Farmers Energy Cooperative and a major corn grower at Moose Creek, said Greenfield should remain profitable with today’s corn and gas prices. If the price of gas dropped below 70 cents and corn spiked above $200 per tonne, a company would have trouble making a profit, he said.

"The government is really supporting the industry," he said. "This is good news; GreenField pays top dollar for corn. As long as there is a second buyer, the basis will be higher than western Ontario."

Federal energy program policy analyst, Riley McCann, says a formula for the industry allows a profitability margin of 29 cents per litre of ethanol. If profit for the first year were, say 22 cents per litre, then the fund would kick in and provide another seven cents.