Republican presidential candidates pledged allegiance to corn ethanol ahead of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses in a contest dominated by former president Donald Trump and his personality. There was little room for any farm policy debate in an effectively nationalized campaign.
Although Iowa is commonly known as a farm state, six of every 10 Iowans live in cities, part of a long-running trend toward urbanization, and farmers make up a comparatively small share of the state’s 3.2 million residents. There are roughly 85,000 farms in Iowa, the No. 1 state for corn and ethanol production.
Biofuels would be part of an “all of the above” energy strategy if he is elected, said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on Thursday, four days ahead of the Republican precinct caucuses. “I want American jobs. I want American-produced energy,” he said.
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley questioned DeSantis’ commitment to biofuels — “Did he tell you that he authored legislation to ban the Renewable Fuel Standard?” — when he was in the U.S. House in 2017, reported Radio Iowa.
Both DeSantis and Haley have perfect scores on an eight-point “biofuels vision” checklist, the Iowa Corn Growers Association said on Dec. 28. “As of today, all Republican candidates who are actively campaigning in Iowa support a growing role for biofuels and a permanent national year-round E15 fix, while opposing laws and regulations that directly or indirectly mandate electric vehicle (EV) purchases.” While Trump was credited with supporting those three points on the biofuels checklist, his views on the other five were unknown.
Also speaking at the summit, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $19 million in cost-sharing grants for installing pumps, storage tanks, and infrastructure for higher-blend biofuels such as E15 for cars and pickup trucks and B20 made from soybean oil for diesel-engine vehicles. “By increasing the supply of biofuels made here in the United States, we are strengthening our energy independence, lowering costs for American families, creating new streams of income for agricultural producers, and bringing good-paying jobs to people in rural communities,” he said.
Trump was ethanol’s defender in 2016, the first time he ran in Iowa, against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who supported a five-year phaseout of the ethanol mandate. Trump finished second to Cruz in the caucuses. As president, Trump had a mixed record on biofuels. He used a trip to Iowa in 2019 to announce year-round availability of higher-blend E15, later overturned in court.
“I fought for Iowa ethanol like no president in history,” said Trump at a rally last July in Council Bluffs. He said DeSantis “totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally.” By contrast, Trump described himself as “the most pro-farmer president that you’ve ever had.”
While campaigning, Trump routinely exaggerates the amount of money given to farmers as compensation for the loss of ag exports during his trade war with China and wrongly says the money came from tariffs when it was really from the USDA budget. Trump has suggested a 10 percent tariff on all imported goods and said he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants if elected.