Lake Area Corn Processors (LACP) owns and operates a single ethanol plant near Wentworth, South Dakota, through its subsidiary Dakota Ethanol. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 100M gallons of ethanol per year. LACP produces three products: ethanol (~76% of revenue), distillers grains (~18%), and corn oil (~6%). Ethanol is fuel-grade and sold to fuel blenders who mix it with gasoline. Distillers grains are a high-protein animal feed co-product sold to the dairy, poultry, swine, and beef industries. Corn oil is a non-food-grade oil used in animal feed, industrial applications, and biodiesel. LACP is structured as a member-owned LLC, with most corn supplied by member agricultural producers nearby; the plant consumes roughly 34M bushels of corn annually. LACP's profitability is driven by the "crush spread" — the gap between ethanol prices and corn input costs. Ethanol prices track gasoline markets and the federal Renewable Fuel Standard mandate, while corn costs fluctuate with crop yields and competing demand. Distillers grains and corn oil revenues provide a partial hedge, since higher corn or soybean prices tend to lift co-product prices. Natural gas is a secondary input cost. LACP markets most of its ethanol, dried distillers grains, and corn oil through RPMG, a third-party marketing firm in which LACP holds an equity stake, and directly markets wet distillers grains locally to reduce drying costs.