Farm Groups Call for Higher Standard on Biofuel

The National Corn Growers Association and the National Farmers Union called on the EPA to strengthen required levels of ethanol in fuel.

The EPA is set to finalize a standard on Nov. 30 that establishes levels of ethanol that refiners must put in the gasoline supply each year.

In May, the agency released diminished requirements on the ethanol levels in response to what it characterized as market restraints and other challenges.

The diminished standards of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mean reduced demand on corn and, authors of the white paper argue, harm to the farm economy and the environment.

“The EPA’s proposed rule and the uncertainty around it have frozen investment in rural communities and sources of income for farmers in the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry at a crucial time,” said Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union. “The economic and environmental benefits of advanced biofuels cannot be realized without a strong RFS.”

The white paper says the RFS has been an American success story since it became law in 2005, and weakening it has hurt America’s farmers. S