During the daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Thursday, President Donald Trump said help for hurting farmers is coming soon. “We have money going out to our farmers in the pretty near future,” said President Trump. “The farmers got hurt very badly by all of this. People are eating less from the standpoint that there’s no restaurants that …
USDA Lowers Corn for Ethanol Outlook
COVID-19 took its toll on the April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates released Thursday, especially for corn and soybeans. This month’s 2019/20 U.S. corn outlook is for reduced imports, greater feed and residual use, lower food, seed, and industrial use, and larger stocks. Feed and residual use is raised 150 million bushels to 5.675 billion. This is based on …
Ethanol Production Hits Record Lows
The latest EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending April 3 hit some very troubling record lows as a result of the deepening impact on the ethanol industry from the social-distancing and stay-at-home restrictions associated with COVID-19. According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production plunged 20.0%, or 168,000 barrels per day (b/d), to …
10th Circuit Court Rejects Request for Rehearing
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the request for a rehearing that was filed by two oil refining companies in response to the court’s unanimous decision Jan. 24 in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The court found that EPA abused its statutory authority in issuing Renewable Fuel Standard compliance exemptions to small refineries …
Senators Call on USDA to Help Biofuels Industry
Iowa Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, along with Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), led a dozen more of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting additional funds be allocated to the biofuel industry through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) during the unprecedented economic circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the country …
POET Takes Two Plants Off Line
Number one ethanol producer POET will idle production at three of its of 27 bioprocessing facilities across seven states, joining dozens of other plants forced into that position around the country. The South Dakota-based company will idle plants in Chancellor, S.D., Ashton, Iowa, and Coon Rapids, Iowa, and delay the start-up of its new plant in Shelbyville, Ind., as producers …
ACE: COVID-19 Exposes Flaw in RFS Rulemaking
The American Coalition for Ethanol is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address a shortcoming in the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) which has been exposed with the recent nosedive in gasoline use as a result of COVID-19. ACE CEO Brian Jennings explains that the world is very different today compared to the end of December. “At …
Farm Bureau Details COVID-19 Impact on Ethanol
Agricultural commodity prices are taking big hits from the COVID-19 emergency, and one of the most hard hit sectors is ethanol, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). In the past month, dairy prices have dropped 26-36%, corn futures have dropped by 14%, soybean futures are down 8% and cotton futures have plummeted 31%. Hog futures are down by …
REG in Newton Seeds Monarch Fueling Station
The Renewable Energy Group (REG) biodiesel plant near Newton, Iowa is growing a monarch fueling station. Local Pheasants Forever representatives recently conducted a seeding of native grasses, milkweed, and other plants that attract pollinators. The mixture has a special emphasis on milkweed plants, the only plant monarchs can lay their eggs on. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Habitat Establishment Coordinator …
RFA Economist Discusses Ethanol Production Declines
While the industry knew ethanol production was dropping due to coronavirus impacts on the transportation sector, the actual numbers from the Energy Information Administration for the week ending March 27 were sobering. A drop of more than 16 percent in a week to the lowest level in six and a half years. But Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Chief Economist Scott …