Corn Farmers Are Deciding Who To Place For New Polices Regarding Ethanol

Corm farmers in the Midwest say they are very confused about new policies the Trump Administration has handed down. The Governmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now allowing E-15 to be sold on year round basis. In fact, this is a much higher grade of ethanol that has raised some controversy in the past. Some farmers are thankful to the EPA that they allowed the fuel to be sold year round. However they are also a bit ‘annoyed’ the EPA over another ruling last week.

That ruling some farmers are saying could impeded the growth of the bio-fuel industry. The EPA is definitely sending mixed signals said the governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack. The governor is a former US Agriculture Secretary. Vilsack who is a Democrat issued a statement that addresses the confusion the corn farmers are dealing with. The statement read,”What we need is a clear indication from the Trump Administration, consistent with the president’s promises.” The statement continued, “the president says he supports the ethanol and bio-fuels industry. “Either you are with the industry or you’re not,” the governor said.

The Governor of Iowa Wants People To Understand The Importance Of The Midwest In Bio-Fuel

Vilsack said that he can’t stress enough the fact that the Midwest is extremely vital in the bio-fuel industry. The Midwest the governor added produces 40% of the corn crop. Corn demand has increased steadily with corn production seeing an increase of 50% in the last 30 years. Vilsack said that the issue of ethanol goes hand in hand with corn. He said it’s extremely important that the ethanol market continues to grow.

Without the growth, farmers are fearful that the grain demand could take a huge nose dive. President Trump has been consistently telling farmers that he will do everything to support the ethanol industry. At different rally stops in the Midwest the President assured farmers that he knows how important ethanol is to the farming industry. In fact, farmers concur that the President has kept his promises, by pushing the EPA to allow year round sales of E-15

Farmers Are Pleased With E-15 Sales But Leery Of Anther Policy

Farmer are taking issue with another report the EPA released last week. The rule relates to the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the gasoline supply available to US consumers. The amount the EPA says must be blended is 15 billion gallons for corn based ethanol.

The ethanol industry feels slighted, as they were expecting the amount to be higher. They say since Trump has taken office refineries are backing off with reduced demand of 2.6 billion gallons. The reason for the reduction says contractors is that the exemptions the refineries received to produce less fuel. Farmers say the EPA turned a blind eye to a federal order in 2017, The order was to restore 500 million gallons that were previously exempted. Furthermore, republicans are blaming not the President but EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler.

Reference

https://www.apnews.com/28dd29a4e0f7499e94453c26639946c1