Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania this week to announce that USDA is awarding more than $43 million in grants through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) to business owners to increase the availability of domestic biofuels in 15 states and give Americans cleaner, more affordable fuel options. HBIIP provides grants to fueling station and …
RFA Concerned About Loss of USDA Reports
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to reconsider its plan announced last week to discontinue all County Estimates for Crops and Livestock beginning with the 2024 production year. “With the rapid emergence of state and federal climate policies that will compel ethanol producers to carefully track certain feedstock characteristics, the availability of robust …
WASDE Increases Corn for Ethanol Use
USDA’s April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) released Thursday forecasts greater corn used for ethanol and feed and residual use and smaller ending stocks. Corn used for ethanol is raised 25 million bushels to 5.4 billion based on data through February from the Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report and weekly ethanol production data as reported by the …
New USDA Under Secretary Excited to Help Rural America
The recently confirmed USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development told ethanol supporters last week that he is excited about the programs they have to help the people in rural America. “One thing that I really want to make clear that I bring to this position as Under Secretary each day is my passion for rural America,” said Dr. Basil Gooden …
Biden Administration Delays GREET Model Revision
Officials from the Biden administration faced over 11,000 farmers and agricultural industry representatives today at the Commodity Classic in Houston and announced that they will miss a self-imposed March 1 deadline to complete modifications to the GREET model for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). “We’re going to take a few more weeks – and I mean weeks, not months – to …
EPA Announces E15 Waiver Approval for 8 States in 2025
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday approval of requests from state governors to remove the 1-psi volatility waiver for gasoline-ethanol blends containing 10 percent ethanol in their states, but delays the effective date to April 28, 2025. “After review of the emissions modeling results presented by the governors in their requests, EPA is removing the 1-psi waiver in the following …
RFA Honors USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack
Following his remarks at the National Ethanol Conference today in San Diego, the Renewable Fuels Association presented its 2024 Industry Award to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in recognition of his many years championing renewable fuels both in Washington and at home in Iowa. In his time at USDA, Sec. Vilsack has been a strong and effective proponent of the …
Ag Secretary Calls Census Numbers “Wake Up Call”
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on Tuesday released results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which includes more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them down to the county level. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer and USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economic Chavonda …
Secretary Vilsack to Speak at National Ethanol Conference
The Renewable Fuels Association is proud to announce that USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will speak at the 2024 National Ethanol Conference in San Diego. Sec. Vilsack will speak to nearly 1,000 conference attendees Tuesday morning, Feb. 20. “We are truly honored to have Secretary Vilsack joining us at this year’s conference, and we look forward to hearing his perspective …
Biofuels Industry Mourns Loss of Bill Northey
The tributes began pouring in as soon as the shock wore off Monday when the news broke that former Iowa Agriculture Secretary and USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey had died at the age of 64. The Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI) where Northey served as CEO shared the news of his passing. “The state of …