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Executive Branch Biofuels Draft Plan Falls Short of Expectations

September 9, 2019

Reuters writers Chris Prentice and Stephanie Kelly reported late last week that, “U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency officials late  Thursday to consider a plan that would include boosting biofuels requirements for 2020 by 1 billion gallons, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. “Trump has promised to deliver a […]

On Ethanol, President Trump Plans to Regain Farmers’ Trust

September 5, 2019

Late last month, Des Moines Register writer Stephen Gruber-Miller reported that, “Gov. Kim Reynolds called President Donald Trump ‘an advocate for farmers’ on [August 27th], but said he may not have understood the damage caused by the ethanol waivers his administration granted. “Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted waivers to 31 oil refineries, letting them off the hook from a requirement to blend 1.4 billion […]

To Mitigate the Fallout from Waivers, Trump Administration Looks at Biofuel-Blending Quotas

August 27, 2019

Recall that earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted 31 small refinery biofuel waivers for 2018.  Trump administration officials then huddled early last week to consider how to contain negative blowback from farmers, who were upset over the EPA waiver decision. Late last week, Bloomberg writers Jennifer A Dlouhy and Mario Parker reported that, “Top Trump administration officials met […]

Trump Administration Mulls Policy Options After Biofuels Waiver Backlash

August 21, 2019

Reuters writers Jarrett Renshaw and Humeyra Pamuk  reported this week that, “President Donald Trump’s administration has been scrambling to stem the tide of rising anger in Farm Belt states after its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump held a two-hour meeting on Monday with members […]

Trump Administration Grants Small Refinery Biofuel Waivers

August 19, 2019

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted 31 small refinery biofuel waivers for 2018, an action relating to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that has caused concern among farmers and some Midwestern lawmakers that demand for ethanol and other biofuels could be curtailed.  The RFS has been a source of conflict between the […]

Corn Use for Ethanol Update

April 30, 2019

On May 1, the latest USDA Grain Crushing report will provide an estimate of corn used for ethanol production in March.  An expectation of continued weakness is in place for ethanol-based corn consumption that led to the USDA’s reduction by 150 million bushels since the September WASDE report.  While increased production is set to begin with the […]

How Tough of a Year was 2018 for Ethanol Production Profits?

February 14, 2019

The U.S. ethanol industry faced considerable headwinds in 2018, including the lowest prices over the last decade, policy setbacks in the implementation of the RFS, and political resistance to granting a year-round RVP waiver for E15.  The impact of these headwinds on ethanol production profits is certainly of interest to those in the ethanol industry, […]

Why are Ethanol Prices So Low?

February 11, 2019

The U.S. ethanol industry was rocked by low prices in 2018, especially in the second half of the year when prices reached their lowest levels in over a decade (Figure 1).  At times in recent months, the price of ethanol at plants approached the unheard of low level of $1 per gallon.  The ethanol industry […]

What’s Behind Rising E85 Use?

January 25, 2019

A farmdoc daily article last week (January 16, 2019) examined the available data on E85 usage to see if it was negatively impacted by the SRE-driven crash in D6 ethanol RIN prices.  Surprisingly, each of the three series available in the public domain on E85 use showed a consistent upward trend since December 2017, just the opposite of that […]

Small Refinery Exemptions and E85 Demand Destruction

January 18, 2019

There continues to be considerable interest in whether small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the RFS have “destroyed” demand for ethanol in the physical market.  It seems obvious that this would be the case since SREs have had the effect of annually waiving more than a billion gallons of the conventional ethanol mandate under the RFS […]