Farmers for Free Trade held a virtual roundtable Thursday to focus on the current trade landscape, the Biden administration’s trade agenda, and how ag exports are critical to workers throughout America. Among the panelists was Bart Pieper, VP of Global Strategies for Marquis Energy in Hennepin, Illinois, who says exports are increasingly important to the ethanol industry but trade barriers …
Sen. Thune Criticizes Democrat Agenda
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) spoke out on the Senate floor this week about Democrat policies that he says are harmful to farmers and ranchers. “For starters, I’m worried that Democrats’ bill could mean the end of some family farms thanks to the bill’s expansion of the death tax,” said Thune. “Death should not be a taxable event.” Sen. Thune also …
Ethanol Remains Top Concern for NCGA
Chris Edgington of St. Ansgar, Iowa, became president of the Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association as of October 1 and during a media Zoom call Monday he said ethanol remains a top concern for the organization as the industry continues to await the administration’s proposal for blending obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “The RVO numbers …
USDA Announces Climate Smart Efforts
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new initiative Wednesday to “finance the deployment of climate-smart farming and forestry practices to aid in the marketing of climate-smart agricultural commodities.” USDA will support a set of pilot projects that provide incentives to implement climate smart conservation practices on working lands and to quantify and monitor the carbon and greenhouse gas benefits associated …
No RVO Proposal Yet
The biofuels industry was left hanging Friday when the rumored release of proposed blending obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) failed to happen. American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings said late Friday they remain hopeful the numbers that were reported would also prove incorrect. “We hope they’re wrong,” said Jennings. “If they are right, it just seems …
USDA Invests in Climate Smart Ag for Low Carbon Fuel
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest nearly $75 million for 15 partner-led projects to address natural resource concerns on private lands. The projects include a $7.5 million investment in the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE)-led Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project to secure farmers premier access to low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) markets based on their adoption of …
Groups Sound Alarm Over Proposed RFS Cuts
Farm and biofuel groups are sounding the alarm over detailed reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to announce major cuts to biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “While a formal proposal has not been released, the expected standards would destroy a decade of progress on low-carbon biofuels and brazenly violate the promises that President …
Iowa Senator Concerned About RVO Proposal
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is concerned about rumors the Renewable Volume Obligations the Biden administration is reportedly set to release on Friday. “You know what happens if something is unpopular it always happens at five o’clock on Friday,” said Grassley during his weekly press call with farm reporters Tuesday. “If we get a bad RVO out of EPA, the farmers …
Vilsack Discusses Sustainable Aviation Fuel
During an appearance before the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and Agri-Pulse Ag Outlook Forum Monday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed concerns about the proposed tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel that it might leave out corn and soybean feedstocks. Agri-Pulse editor and president Sara Wyant asked the secretary if we can expect the administration to “weigh in …
Ethanol Report RFA 40th Anniversary – Randy Doyal
The Renewable Fuels Association was born in 1981 and RFA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by spotlighting some of the pioneers in the ethanol industry who were there at the beginning, like Randy Doyal. Doyal is CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont, Minnesota and has been an RFA board member since 1995, serving as board chairman in …