USDA Secretary Announces HBIIP Funding in Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary Rollins and Sen. Ernst tour Elite Octane

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins visited an Iowa ethanol plant Monday to announce USDA will release obligated funding under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) for 543 projects totaling $537 million in 29 states. That funding had been included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Secretary Rollins made the announcement at Elite Octane in Atlantic, Iowa, along with an entourage that included Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

“President Trump is honoring our commitment to America’s farmers, ranchers and small businesses, especially here in Iowa where corn and soy growers are crucial to supporting ethanol and biodiesel production,” Secretary Rollins said.

In a press availability with the other dignitaries, Rollins was first asked about nationwide, year-round E15. “This is a priority of our administration,” said Rollins. “We hear you and we understand how important it is.”

Questioned about tariff negotiations and whether the administration would be willing to compensate farmers impacted adversely as it did in the first Trump term, Rollins said, “My hope and prayer and goal is that we don’t have to do that again, that in fact these tariff re-negotiations will be so positive for our farmers and ranchers and ag community on the front end.”

Gov. Reynolds, Elite Octane CEO Nick Bowdish, Sen. Ernst, Rep. Nunn and Rep. Miller-Meeks also make comments in the press conference.

USDA Sec. Rollins at Elite Octane 16:17

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

New Research Evaluates Gasoline as Carcinogen

Cindy Zimmerman

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated the carcinogenicity of automotive gasoline and some oxygenated gasoline additives and published findings last week in The Lancet Oncology.

The Working Group evaluated automotive gasoline as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the basis of sufficient evidence for cancer in humans and the combination of sufficient evidence for cancer in experimental animals and strong mechanistic evidence in exposed humans. Automotive gasoline causes cancer of the urinary bladder and acute myeloid leukaemia in adults.

That was news that Rick Schwark with Absolute Energy took to Capitol Hill last week at the annual American Coalition for Ethanol DC Fly-in. “Gasoline is made of two main parts…it’s the aromatic compounds that are the issue and that’s where the octane comes from in gasoline,” said Schwark. “Ethanol’s high octane replaces them.”

Those compounds include Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), diisopropyl ether (DIPE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME). MTBE and ETBE were both classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) on the basis of sufficient evidence for cancer in experimental animals.

Schwark adds that the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota is finding similar results in its breast cancer research.

2025 ACE Fly-in Rick Schwark, Absolute Energy 3:32

2025 ACE DC Fly-in Photo Album

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Secretary Rollins to Visit Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Sec. Rollins at 2025 Commodity Classic

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins will be in Iowa Monday, March 31, with a full schedule that includes a visit to an ethanol plant.

Secretary Rollins will start the day with at Elite Octane in Atlantic, Iowa, where she will be joined by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. Rollins will also tour a hog farm, and meet with soybean producers and agriculture leaders from across Iowa, capping off the day by delivering the keynote speech at the Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner.

Tariffs and trade are likely to dominate any remarks the secretary makes as this week is the “big” week for reciprocal tariff announcements promised by President Donald Trump. Rollins announced Friday she will visit six international markets in her first six months as Secretary to expand markets and boost American agricultural exports.

On her agenda are Vietnam, Japan, India, Peru, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. The UK was the second largest market for U.S. ethanol exports last year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, while India was ranked fourth. Peru was ninth on the list last year and there is room to grow as USDA lists ethanol exports as one of the key prospects for Rollins’ visit. India, Japan and Brazil are all extremely important markets for the ethanol industry in terms of growth potential and trade imbalances.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, USDA

Back to the Future with the RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

For the first time in 20 years, the Senate has a strong ethanol champion as Majority Leader in Sen. John Thune (R-SD). The last time was another South Dakotan, Democrat Tom Daschle, who was instrumental in crafting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Jonathon Lehman speaks at ACE DC Fly-in

Jonathon Lehman, who has been the American Coalition for Ethanol lobbyist for many years, served as Counsel to Sen. Daschle and helped to write the legislation. “When we started the RFS in the early 2000s, it was really in response to the farm economy at the time and really low commodity prices,” said Lehman. “We knew at the time that you really needed to increase demand and that is where the RFS came into play is to really drive corn demand via the ethanol industry and soybeans via biodiesel and create this new market opportunity.”

Ironically, Daschle lost his seat in the Senate before the RFS was passed into law in 2005, and he lost it to John Thune who was serving in the House. “Senator Daschle was the lead sponsor of the RFS on the Senate side back in the early 2000s while John Thune was the lead sponsor on the House side,” said Lehman. “So he’s been a core kind of champion of biofuels throughout his entire his entire career.”

Lehman provided insights and background for members of ACE prior to their visits on Capitol Hill this week.

2025 ACE Fly-in Jonathon Lehman 7:08

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS

ACE Members on Capitol Hill

Cindy Zimmerman

Members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) are on Capitol Hill this week with a laundry list of topics to discuss with Congressional offices, but topping the list is year-round, nationwide E15.

“It’s time to get this done, it’s overdue. We came so close last year. Let’s not let that momentum fall by the wayside,” said ACE CEO Brian Jennings. “We know that we have strong support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress. We know that leadership in this new Congress is working with us to try to get it done, particularly the Senate Majority Leader. And we know that there are a handful of must-pass bills that Congress will consider, and so there’s a select few opportunities I we we prefer to get this done before the summer driving season.”

Other important issues facing the industry include the impact of potential tariffs, continuation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the supply-demand situation.

“You could argue this is the most important fly-in we’ve done the last 14 years because we’re on the cusp of accomplishing some really important things,” said Jennings. “We’re also on the razor’s edge of having the farm economy continue to go in the wrong direction. And if we do get some of these trade markets taken away from us, seeing some really concerning fundamentals in the ethanol supply demand domestically.”

ACE CEO Brian Jennings discusses E15 and other issues at the Fly-in
2025 ACE Fly-in Brian Jennings, ACE 10:14

2025 ACE DC Fly-in Photo Album

ACE, Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Sen. Thune Calls for Farm Bill and Year-round E15

Cindy Zimmerman

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took to the floor yesterday to urge Congress to help farmers who are struggling.

“Many commodity producers are bracing for the prospect of serious financial losses this year,” said Thune. “These challenges are real. That’s why last December, Congress approved relief funding for agriculture producers hit by economic headwinds, as well as those affected by natural disasters.”

But, Thune says, that is only temporary relief and no substitute for a new farm bill and the stability nationwide E15 could provide. “When I became Majority Leader, I made it clear that a full and updated farm bill would be a priority for the new Republican majority. Secretary Rollins has been clear that this is a priority for the Trump administration as well….As is a stable biofuels policy, including year round access to E15 and timely and meaningful updates to the renewable volume obligations that matter to ethanol producers in America’s heartland.”

Sen. Thune floor speech 4:35

Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ag and Biofuels Groups Seek Exemption to Shipping Rules

Cindy Zimmerman

The United States Trade Representative‘s office is holding public hearings this week on proposed actions in the Section 301 investigation of China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance that would result in new fees being imposed on Chinese vessels. The first hearing was held on Monday, March 24 and the second will be on Wednesday, March 26.

More than 100 agricultural and biofuels organizations sent comments in a letter to USTR seeking an exemption for agricultural exports from both newly proposed fees on Chinese vessels and graduated sourcing requirements for U.S. built and flagged vessels “until such time as our nation’s ship production can meet the requirements needed to keep U.S. agriculture competitive in the global market.”

“While we support President Trump’s effort to rebuild the United States position and power in global shipping, we are worried the current fees and timelines cannot be achieved without substantial economic harm on the farm and in rural America,” the letter stated. “These are not idle concerns. U.S. commodity prices and agriculture exports have already been negatively impacted due to uncertainty regarding when trade actions would become effective. Vessel operators have told U.S. exporters they intend to pass on 100 percent of the cost of the port fees.”

The Renewable Fuels Association was one of the groups signing the letter and president and CEO Geoff Cooper says shipping transportation is vital to ethanol exports, which hit record levels last year. “Efficient, reliable, and timely export transportation service is critical to the viability of our industry, and the imposition of these fees would be devastating to our marketplace. We urge the U.S. Trade Representative to recognize the vital importance of American agriculture products to the world economy, and grant the requested exemptions.”

Ag group, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, Trade, transportation

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in SRE Venue Case

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that will determine where challenges to small refinery exemptions (SREs) decisions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) should be brought.

The renewable fuels industry argued in favor of the petitioner, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the case versus Calumet Shreveport Refining, and other refineries.

The Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy jointly intervened on EPA’s behalf, urging the court to reject an argument by refineries that would allow them to “forum shop” for more favorable venues to challenge recent SRE denials despite clear direction from Congress that those decisions should be adjudicated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“Congress clearly intended to streamline review of SRE decisions to ensure consistency and uniformity for assessing SRE petitions,” said RFA and Growth Energy in a joint statement. “Today, the American biofuels industry came together to argue in front of the nation’s highest court, and to defend farmers and ethanol producers from the oil industry’s attempts to create an inefficient and fractured body of law governing the SRE program.”

The Supreme Court had previously remanded a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which held that challenges to the SRE denials at issue were properly brought before it but several other circuit courts disagreed, finding instead that the D.C. Circuit is the proper venue for these SRE challenges and creating the “circuit split” on venue that the Supreme Court is poised to resolve.

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, RFS

Groups Provide Climate Smart Ag Comments

Cindy Zimmerman

Biofuels groups submitted comments this week to USDA on its interim rule for climate-smart agriculture guidance to support the new 45Z tax credit for clean fuel producers.

The Renewable Fuels Association emphasized the importance of policies that empower farmers while ensuring a robust and efficient renewable fuels market.

RFA highlighted the benefits of a book-and-claim supply chain management system, which would allow farmers to sell the emissions reduction value of their on-farm practices separately from their physical crops, thereby ensuring flexibility in the grain market while still incentivizing sustainable farming.

RFA also argued for including enhanced efficiency fertilizers as an eligible practice in the final rule.

The American Coalition for Ethanol highlighted the importance of ensuring the guidelines are fully integrated into the implementation of the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit and adopted consistently in state and regional clean fuel programs. ACE also emphasized the need for continuous improvement of the Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (FD-CIC) accounting for specific crop yield, climate, soil, and management-specific estimates of nitrogen use efficiency and nitrous oxide emissions, as well as making updates based on real-world data, such as findings from ACE’s own USDA-funded Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects.

Clean Fuels Alliance America recommends USDA incorporate intermediate oilseed crops – such as winter canola – as a conservation crop rotation practice and update the USDA FD-CIC model to include these crops. Clean Fuels also urges USDA to ensure that the standards and requirements in the CSA program are complementary to the requirements for other USDA programs, particularly crop insurance.

ACE, Biodiesel, canola, Clean Fuels Alliance, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFS, USDA

Ethanol Report on Industry Roots

Cindy Zimmerman

The theme of the recent 30th National Ethanol Conference was Back to Our Roots and it was a celebration of how the industry started and how it’s going.

One panel featured a walk down memory lane with some industry pioneers who talked about the early days and how the roots of the ethanol industry were firmly planted by farmers. Included in this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast are comments from Karol King, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE); Rodney Jorgenson, Al-Corn Clean Fuel, MN; Todd Brown, Dakota Ethanol, SD; Rod Gangwish, KAAPA Ethanol, NE; and Dave VanderGriend, CEO, ICM, Inc.

Ethanol Report 3-19-25 17:55

Audio interviews, presentations and photos from the NEC can be found in the conference virtual newsroom.

The Ethanol Report is a podcast about the latest news and information in the ethanol industry that has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008.

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Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA