Ethanol Days of Summer Contest is Back

Cindy Zimmerman

For the third year in a row, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is sponsoring the “Ethanol Days of Summer” contest, which encourages consumers to submit pump prices for flex fuels like E85 and ethanol blends like E15 to E85prices.com web site, which enters them in a random daily drawing for a $50 fuel gift card.

To enter, contest participants create an account on the E85prices website or the app, where they can submit pricing for a chance to win. Pricing on the crowd-sourced website is updated routinely and gives consumers instant access to fuel prices that nearby drivers have reported. Winners are chosen daily until Labor Day and users can submit prices for multiple stations each day. To participate, no purchase is necessary, and more information can be found at ChooseEthanol.com/summer.

In 2018, more than 3,700 new users registered at E85prices.com, with 98 different contest winners who collectively received $5,000 in free fuel.

Contest, E15, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Trump Talks E15 During Trade Announcement

Cindy Zimmerman

President Donald Trump welcomed representatives from a number of agricultural organizations to the White House Thursday to talk about the $16 billion in trade assistance announced by the administration.

“I have directed Secretary Perdue to provide $16 billion in assistance to America’s farmers and ranchers. It all comes from China. We’ll be taking in, over a period of time, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China. And our farmers will be greatly helped. We want to get them back to the point where they would have had if they had a good year.”

During the announcement, President Trump also mentioned the pending decision from EPA on year-round sales of 15% ethanol (E15).

“We’re ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of America’s energy future, and we increased it to E15. And that’s tremendous for, in particular, for the most part, our corn farmers, for corn. And the people in Iowa and lots of other places are very happy. I just did it recently, and I made a promise during the campaign that I was going to do it. And I don’t know if it had an impact, but I won Iowa by a lot. And perhaps it did; perhaps it didn’t. I don’t really care. It’s the right thing to do. So you’re going to be at E15, which is something, I think, you’ve been waiting for, for a long time.”

Listen to President Trump’s remarks here:
President Trump announces trade aid for farmers

Audio, corn, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, Trade

RFS Integrity Act Introduced

Cindy Zimmerman

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), co-chairs of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, have introduced the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act of 2019 which establishes an annual June 1st deadline for refineries to submit small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions from their RFS blending obligations each year and increases transparency in the process.

Since 2018, EPA granted 54 waivers to refineries for the 2016 and 2017 RFS compliance years totaling 2.61 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons being taken out of the market place. By law, the RFS requires that the EPA make adjustments when determining future biofuels targets to account for waivers to ensure that the overall biofuels targets are not reduced by waivers. However, the agency is not accounting for these waivers and the demand for biofuels is being undercut.

The bill is supported by state and national biofuel and corn grower associations, including National Corn Growers Association, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), National Biodiesel Board, and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE).

“This bipartisan bill would prevent companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Holly Frontier, and CVR from further gaming the system and undercutting the Renewable Fuel Standard,” said RFA CEO Geoff Cooper. “For five years in a row, EPA has failed to enforce the RFS conventional biofuel volume requirements set forth by Congress, even though there has been ample supply available at a low cost to meet the statutory volumes. The consequences of EPA’s chronic mismanagement of the RFS have been economically devastating for ethanol producers, farmers, and consumers alike.”

By setting a June 1st petition submission deadline each year, the EPA will have time to account for renewable fuel gallons stripped from the market due to these waivers. The bill also increases transparency in the process by making information with respect to a petition subject to public disclosure.

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

Alltech Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference wrapped up Tuesday with president and CEO Dr. Mark Lyons sharing his new vision for the company and inviting more than 3,500 attendees to join in “Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™.”

Thirty years ago, his father, Alltech’s founder Dr. Pearse Lyons, took the stage at the same conference. He had committed Alltech to a guiding ACE principle, emphasizing the importance of delivering benefit to animals, consumers and the environment. He fervently believed that the well-being of each depended on maintaining harmony between all three. It was a radical idea at the time — so radical, that some customers walked out of the conference.

Yet, against a backdrop of diminishing natural resources, a changing climate and a growing population, sustainability is quickly becoming a non-negotiable for businesses and for agriculture. Every business and individual has a role to play, moving us closer to a planet of peril or of plenty.

“With the adoption of new technologies and management practices, and, most of all, human ingenuity, we believe a Planet of Plenty is possible,” said Lyons. “Our Planet of Plenty vision propels our founding ACE principle into a new world of possibility, where anyone and everyone can make a positive impact on our shared planet.”

A new website has been launched for the initiative. PlanetofPlenty.com provides examples of agricultural methods that can improve the environment as well as inspiring stories of the people and technologies making a planet of plenty possible. Stories can be shared on the Planet of Plenty website or on social media with the hashtag #PlanetofPlenty.

Listen to Dr. Lyons’ closing remarks.
Alltech ONE19 Dr. Mark Lyons closing remarks

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

Find more content from ONE19 on the conference virtual newsroom on AgNewsWire.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Alltech, Audio

ACE Shares Low Carbon Ethanol Benefits With Senators

Cindy Zimmerman

As the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on “Climate Change and the Agriculture Sector” this week, American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings highlighted the scientific and economic opportunities U.S. farmers and biofuel producers hold to support climate change mitigation and get the rural economy back on track in a letter to committee leadership.

“As the committee begins this timely discussion about the role of agriculture in climate change, the current economic stakes intensify the need for policies which can provide a meaningful return on investment,” the letter stated. Jennings noted, U.S. farmers are under tremendous financial stress from collapsing net farm income, rising expenses, ongoing trade tensions, weather-related disasters, and the undermining of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) with demand destroying small refinery waivers.

As Congress tackles climate change, Jennings believes one way to thread that needle would be by providing “rural America with concrete benefits from climate-centered policies that outweigh potential negatives, such as recognizing the role agriculture can play to mitigate climate change and increasing the use of low carbon fuels.”

ACE published a White Paper last year titled “The Case for Properly Valuing the Low Carbon Benefits of Corn Ethanol” that highlights how U.S. farmers and ethanol producers are improving efficiencies, investing in technologies, and adopting practices to dramatically reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from corn ethanol.

ACE, corn, Environment, Ethanol

USDA Announces More Trade Aid for Farmers

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced several actions that USDA will be taking to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption.

President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, the President has authorized USDA to provide up to $16 billion in programs, which is in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. These programs will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.

Details of the aid package were announced in a press call with USDA officials, including:

• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
• USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson
• Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Bill Northey
• Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach
• Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney
• Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Brandon Lipps
• USDA’s Trade Counsel Jason Hafemeister

Listen or download here:
USDA Announces Trade Aid Package

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Trade, USDA

GROWMARK Serves Energy Customers in Various Ways

GROWMARK continues to serve customers in the energy sector, not just in the Midwest but across much of the United States.

The agricultural cooperative markets 2.2 billion gallons on energy products throughout the territory it serves, including gasoline fuel, propane and lubricants. This presence includes 140 different fuel terminals and 235 retail stations. GROWMARK is also the fourth largest propane retailer in the United States, according to Scott Long, manager, marketing and business development at GROWMARK. He said the cooperative puts the customer first.

“We try to listen to what they’re trying to accomplish and then find a package, whether that’s gasoline, diesel fuel, we’ve done some solar projects,” said Long. “We deal quite a bit with the additive business, trying to make sure that the fuel that they’re purchasing stays like it was originally intended to go through today’s equipment.”

Logistics are a continual concern as there are not always enough truck drivers to move products, especially during the busiest times. Very wet conditions have slowed fieldwork considerably during the 2019 planting season, but Long predicts an extremely busy season for energy as farmers get back into the fields.

Listen to Carrie’s interview here: Interview with Scott Long, GROWMARK

AgWired Energy, Audio, Cooperatives, Energy, GROWMARK

FCA Board Chairman Dallas Tonsager Dies

Farm Credit Administration board chairman and former USDA under secretary Dallas Tonsager died Tuesday of lymphoma in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 64.

Tonsager was appointed to the FCA board by President Barack Obama in 2015 and was designated chairman and CEO in 2016. Prior to that, he served as under secretary for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013. Tonsager grew up on a dairy farm near Oldham, South Dakota and was a graduate of South Dakota State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture in 1976.

FCA Board Member Jeff Hall has been designated acting CEO. “Dallas dedicated his life to helping farmers, ranchers, and other rural Americans,” said Hall. “Both at USDA and FCA, he worked hard to promote investments in rural communities. As chairman of FCA, he urged the Farm Credit System to work with borrowers experiencing stress as a result of the current downturn in the farm economy.”

“He worked especially hard to ensure the success of the biofuels industry, as well as highlighting the healthcare and broadband needs of rural America,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota. “His leadership and dedication to rural communities will be greatly missed.”

The Tonsager family plans to host a funeral service in South Dakota and a memorial service in Washington.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision

Groups Urge Congress to Extend the Biodiesel Tax Credit

Cindy Zimmerman

More than a dozen industry stakeholder organizations are asking Congressional leaders to take immediate action on bipartisan legislation to extend the biodiesel tax incentive.

Thirteen trade groups representing farmers, rural lenders, crop and biobased oil producers, and biodiesel producers sent a letter this week to House and Senate leadership stressing the urgent need for the rural economy.

“America’s farmers and rural communities are facing a mounting economic threat. With your leadership, Congress can help mitigate the crisis by taking immediate action on a policy that enjoys bipartisan, bicameral support. We are writing today to ask you to renew and extend the biodiesel tax incentive at the earliest opportunity,” the letter states.

In addition to the National Biodiesel Board, the groups include the Agricultural Retailers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, CoBank, Corn Refiners Association, Farm Credit Council, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Oilseed Processors Association, National Renderers Association, National Sorghum Producers, and U.S. Canola Association.

Biodiesel, NBB