VeraSun of Sioux Falls says it has received an offer for a buyout. The announcement came just hours after the CEO of Poet said his company is in talks with ethanol producers. Poet, also of Sioux Falls, is the nation's top ethanol producer. But it's not identifying the producers it's talking with. And VeraSun won't say who's the potential buyer or terms of the offer. Just the thought of some kind of merger or buy-out between the two is enough to make some producers and haulers take notice.

Here at the Canton Elevator, a lot of drivers tell KSFY they haven't watched the talks too closely but they say anything that's good for the price of corn is good for them.

The line of trucks here isn't what it was last week. And as harvest time draws to a close producers are watching the talks as they're watching the corn being unloaded.

"Maybe the corn prices will stay a little stronger instead of going up and down so drastically." Jordan Lamfers is in a hurry. In fact he didn't even have time to get out of his truck before heading back across the border to Iowa. He says the more ethanol plants there are, the more work he has and the better it is for our economy. "That keeps us pretty busy hauling corn out of these elevators to these other ethanol plants and keeps us on the road and keeps money in our pockets. So we don't want to see them close by all means."

Today KSFY checked with representatives from both VeraSun and Poet. Both companies say there was really nothing they could say about talks right now.

VeraSun has 16 plants in eight states and produces more than 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol each year. While Poet operates 26 ethanol plants with a potential yearly output of more than 1.5 billion gallons. Put the two together and it would be a huge ethanol producing company.