Biodiesel Industry Hits Keep Coming

Cindy Zimmerman

At the same time the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual proposed Renewable Fuel Standard rule on Friday, the industry was hit with a court ruling that upholds the agency’s method for setting biomass-based diesel volumes in the 2017 RFS rules.

In comments on the RFS rule, NBB urged EPA to increase advanced biofuel volumes for 2020 and biomass-based diesel volumes for 2021 “to accommodate domestic biodiesel and renewable diesel producers’ proven ability to increase output” and said the agency must properly account for small refinery exemptions and the 500 million gallons of biofuel unlawfully waived in 2016.

In the court decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit also rejected refiners’ arguments that they are burdened by RIN prices and that EPA should change the point of obligation, as well as that the 2017 RFS volumes were set too high and that EPA should have used additional waiver authority.

The impact of small refinery exemptions (SREs) on the biodiesel industry was a topic of discussion at the Farm Progress Show last week. Illinois farmer Rob Shaffer, American Soybean Association (ASA) director and chair of the organization’s Biodiesel and Infrastructure Committee, brought up the issue during a listening session with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. He also asked about the biodiesel tax credit, which is now lapsed 20 months ago, and got an answer from Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL-18).
Illinois farmer Rob Shaffer at FPS19 Ag Forum

Leaders of both NBB and ASA have requested a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss small refinery exemptions and the RFS but Shaffer said as of last week they had not heard back on that.

In this interview, Shaffer talks about how biodiesel producers have suffered the greatest impact from the administration’s small refinery exemptions and plants from Pennsylvania to Iowa to Georgia and Texas are closing as a result of demand destruction.
Interview with ASA director Rob Shaffer, Illinois

2019 Farm Progress Show photo album

ASA, Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Farm Progress Show, NBB, RFS

ACE Presents Grassroots and Media Awards

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) honored media excellence and grassroots advocacy during its 32nd annual conference last month in Omaha.

The ACE Grassroots Award is given to individuals who often perform “behind the scenes” to advance the cause of ethanol. Mike Finarty received this year’s award for promoting ethanol around the country via the Biofuels Mobile Education Center, funded by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and ACE producer members Absolute Energy, Big River Resources, Golden Grain Energy and Homeland Energy Solutions. The trailer serves as an advocacy tool for the industry at events to educate people wanting to know more about biofuels.

The rural television network RFD-TV was also recognized as the recipient of the Media Excellence Award. RFD-TV founder Patrick Gottsch accepted the award on behalf of the television network’s coverage of the news and issues important to the U.S. ethanol industry.

RFD-TV is a pay television channel launched in December 2000 that features programming devoted to rural issues, concerns and interests. The corporate & national sales office is based in Omaha, Nebraska.

2019 ACE Conference Photo Album

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Biofuels Industry to EPA: Restore Lost Gallons

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol and biodiesel producers, corn and soybean farmers, all had the same message to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding proposed renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – restore the gallons of biofuel blending volumes lost under the numerous small refinery exemptions granted by the agency over the past two years. Industry organizations delivered comments to the EPA on Friday’s deadline.

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) –
“Issuing small refinery exemptions after an RVO rule is finalized—as EPA has now done for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 compliance years—has the practical impact of reducing the effective RVOs to levels well below those specified in the rule.” EPA’s proposal “makes a mockery” of the 2017 federal court decision in Americans for Clean Energy v. EPA, by refusing to add back 500 million gallons of renewable fuel the court determined were inappropriately waived by EPA. “RFA strongly urges the EPA to include the 500 million gallons in the final 2020 RVO, as required by the court.”

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) –
“Not only has EPA allowed 85 SREs for the 2016 through 2018 RFS compliance years, it has not reallocated the 4.04 billion gallons of statutory volume exempted over that time frame. If one were to assume, for example purposes, all this waived volume constitutes ethanol from corn, this is equivalent to losing a 1.4-billion-bushel crop, or the entire market for Minnesota corn farmers in 2018.”

National Biodiesel Board (NBB) –
“EPA must increase advanced biofuel volumes for 2020 and biomass-based diesel volumes for 2021 to accommodate domestic biodiesel and renewable diesel producers’ proven ability to increase output. Further, the agency must properly account for small refinery exemptions — which are actively rolling back biodiesel volumes — and the 500 million gallons of biofuel unlawfully waived in 2016.”

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) –
“Accounting for future waived gallons in the 2020 volume standards is an immediate step the Administration can take to address the anxiety being felt across farm country and put meaning back in the RFS. EPA must use the 2020 RVO rule to keep the RFS whole. Doing so will deliver the full clean air, cost savings, energy security and rural economic benefits consumers and farmers receive from the RFS.”

National Farmers Union (NFU) –
“We strongly urge EPA to reverse course in order to guarantee that the intent of the RFS is upheld – the agency must offset all 4 billion gallons lost to the waivers, it must enforce the volume requirements for conventional biofuels, and it must increase volumes for advanced biofuels.”

Meanwhile, the administration is “meeting furiously” to “try to recover some of that demand destruction that those small refinery waivers did,” according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the Farm Progress Show last week.

ACE, Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFA, RFS

No Details on Small Refinery Waiver Mitigation

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was tight-lipped last week at the Farm Progress Show when it came to details of the administration’s “small refinery waiver mitigation efforts” that President Trump “really wants to announce himself.”

“I don’t want to steal the president’s thunder on that,” Sec. Perdue said during a listening session held Wednesday morning at Richland Community College on the show site. Perdue repeatedly declined to give any specifics of the plan during several appearances at the show during the day, but he did toss out a couple of ideas he pitched to the president. “I presented some plans to him over infrastructure growth from (E)10 to (E)15,” said Perdue. “One other idea I suggested was that we take off the orange skull and cross bones on the E15 pumps.”

Listen to some of Perdue’s comments on small refinery waiver mitigation efforts.
FPS19 Sec. Perdue small refinery waiver comments

On Thursday, President Trump tweeted about the plan that he is hoping to announce in person somewhere in the Midwest within the next couple of weeks.

The Farmers are going to be so happy when they see what we are doing for Ethanol, not even including the E-15, year around, which is already done. It will be a giant package, get ready! At the same time I was able to save the small refineries from certain closing. Great for all!

Sec. Perdue took a call with President Donald Trump on stage at Farm Progress Show, but the topic was trade with China and not biofuels.

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Progress Show, USDA

ZimmCast 624 – #FPS19

It was a busy Farm Progress Show this year with great weather and lots to talk about. Happy to have a long weekend to recover from our labor!

In this edition of the ZimmCast, you will hear from some of the many voices at #FPS19, including Show Manager Matt Jungmann, BASF External Communications Manager Casey Allen, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, President Donald J. Trump, National Corn Growers Association 1st VP Kevin Ross, and National Hemp Association executive director Erica Stark.

Links to lots more content can be found on the 2019 Farm Progress Show virtual newsroom. Special thanks to Syngenta, GROWMARK, and Bayer for their support in helping us bring you the sights and sounds of #FPS19.

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 624 – #FPS19

2019 Farm Progress Show photo album

Subscribe to the ZimmCast by clicking here.

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GROWMARK Supply Chain Focused on Efficiency

GROWMARK’s Rod Wells (far right) with several State Directors of Agriculture at the 2019 Farm Progress Show.

The weather challenges many farmers faced over the past year tested the supply chain for companies like GROWMARK, but the regional cooperative was well equipped to help their customers react to changing conditions like river shutdowns, the need for shorter season hybrids in some cases, and crop protection adjustments.

That’s a benefit of working across all of the company’s various divisions from energy to agronomy to grain with a continued focus on operational efficiency.

“Given the farm economy and what we’re faced with this year – farm incomes being down – everybody is open at this point, I think, to looking at a better way to do something, again, being responsive to that customer but also being as efficient as you can possibly be doing it because you just can’t afford to have the waste in the system anymore,” said Rod Wells, Executive Director, Enterprise Supply Chain, GROWMARK.

Wells said he is excited about implementing Lean Six Sigma principles within the cooperative over the coming year, looking at all processes and identifying and removing waste where possible, while still balancing that with responsiveness to the customer. Wells was at the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Rod here: Interview with Rod Wells, GROWMARK

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK

USDA Secretary Addresses Ag Issues at #FPS19

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue spent a full day at Farm Progress Show in just a few hours. After listening to farmers’ concerns during an Ag Policy Forum across the street, the secretary drove a tractor in the ride and drive, took a call from President Trump during a live show on stage with Max Armstrong, and then answered questions from a few dozen reporters gathered in the BASF Media Tent.

Listen to the press conference with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue here: FPS19 USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue Press Conference

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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Secretary Perdue at Illinois Ag Policy Forum

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue told those gathered at an ag policy forum during the 2019 Farm Progress Show that he expects President Trump to announce small refinery waiver mitigation efforts soon. Perdue declined to provide further details about the coming announcement.

Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation including Rep. Rodney Davis, Rep. John Shimkus, Rep. Mike Bost and Rep. Darin LaHood hosted the forum, where they and Secretary Perdue answered questions from farmers and agribusiness leaders on trade and tariffs, biosecurity, renewable fuels and hemp production among other topics.

Listen to the entire Ag Policy Forum here: FPS19 Ag Policy Forum

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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#FPS19 Day Two Underway

Day two of the 2019 Farm Progress Show is underway with plenty of sunshine and a full line up of events, including a visit from Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Show Manager Matt Jungmann said late planting for many farmers this year means they are not yet in the field and as a result the crowds are turning out for the event.

“It appears that the optimism of the American farmer means that we’re going to have a great year in 2020 and we’re going to make plans, so we’re going to go to the Farm Progress Show, start the planning process, take step one to put 2019 behind us, and go to work,” said Jungmann, who is National Events Director for Farm Progress.

Jungmann said visitors to the show are enjoying perfect weather after rains came through during set up for the event. New exhibits this year include an area focused on hemp production and the demonstration of a mock pipeline strike with a tiling machine.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Matt here: Interview with Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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Bayer Commits Funding to 4-H and FFA

At the 2019 Farm Progress Show, Bayer announced a $6 million gift over the next five years to support 4-H and FFA youth programs.

“It’s no secret that U.S. agriculture is facing a lot of challenges right now, but there is no better time to invest in the future than now,” said Lisa Safarian, Head of Crop Science, North America. “A landscape of completely new opportunities are developing right now in agriculture, and its youth is going to guide this landscape. Tomorrow’s farmers and leaders are going to be instrumental in advancements in digital technologies and data science that will unlock greater value and enable farmers to continue their efforts to sustainably produce food to feed the world.”

Safarian said these groups cultivate the desire and knowledge to advance agriculture through hands-on activities that strengthen STEM skills, engage with communities and develop strong leadership skills.

“Having this kind of a long-term partnership really does give us the chance at 4-H to plan, and to look ahead as we invest in the future of the agriculture and science workforce of our country to help build our economy,” said Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO of the National 4-H Council. “We know that our youth are going to play a critical role in the future of agriculture innovation, and 4-H is uniquely prepared to respond to these needs, not only because of our roots in agriculture, but because of our reach and the diversity of the young people we serve today.”

Echoing the thanks to Bayer for this investment in young people was Mark Poeschl, CEO of the National FFA Organization.

“We recognize that in order for us to grow the 8,600 FFA chapters around the country, we have to continue to invest in teachers – both recruitment of teachers as well as retention of those teachers that are already in the classroom. These funds help us do that,” said Poeschl. “We also believe we have to be the voice of agriculture. We have to teach our young people how to be advocates for agriculture. So advocacy and ag literacy – a second pillar of FFA’s strategic plan – will also be a critical part of the investment that we continue to make in our members around the country.”

Listen to the entire news conference here: Bayer Commits to 4-H and FFA News Conference

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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