As the biofuels industry continues to press the U.S. Senate for action on E15 legislation, a recent report from U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action (USFRA), “Fueling Agriculture: Biofuels as the Catalyst”, is getting attention on Capitol Hill and around the country.
Members of Congress are highlighting the report’s findings and its implications for American agriculture. Representatives Julie Fedorchak (R-ND), Angie Craig (D-MN) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) have all released videos praising the report and its vision for expanding biofuels. In addition, Rep. Johnson joined Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) in penning a recent op-ed published in The Hill which pointed to the report as evidence of the opportunities ahead for American agriculture.
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says lawmakers should take a careful look at the study. “I think the message from that study was very sobering and should be a wake up call for policymakers and anyone who’s concerned about the future of agriculture in this country,” said Cooper in a recent Ethanol Report podcast. “Farmers are better at what they do today than ever before and that productivity is just going to continue to increase. So that means we’re going to have larger supplies of farm commodities in the U.S. And then the challenge becomes how do we continue to build markets and grow demand for that product and that increased productivity. And that’s where biofuels comes into play. That study actually says if we just continue along the path we’re on, we’re going to lose 30 million corn acres in the next couple of decades. And that means we’re going to lose family farms and we’re going to lose rural communities that depend on the economic activity of those farms.”
The U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council (USGBC) also supports the findings of the study. “For the Council, reports like these provide valuable data that can be used to educate our trading partners about the benefits of higher blend rates for renewable fuels, while positioning U.S. farmers to supply a growing share of the approximately 940-billion-gallon global liquid fuel market that includes marine and aviation fuels,” said Alicia Koch, USGBC director of global ethanol export development.