Corn losses in rainy spring will be “similar to a severe drought” in scope
Heading into the final week of May, U.S. farmers have planted only 46 percent of the corn and soybean acreage that they intended this year, due to the rainy spring. Economist Todd Hubbs of the University of Illinois said on Tuesday the setback to the corn crop “appears set to hit a level …
Congress sets the rules but farm subsidies are ‘a great investment,’ says Perdue
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue steered clear of a farm bill squabble on Tuesday that has Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley considering a vote against the bill because it would relax crop subsidy limits. Perdue said the farm program is “a great investment” that keeps U.S. food prices low and that …
As farm bill conference begins, Grassley says he may vote ‘no’ in the end
Senate and House negotiators will make little progress during a pro forma public meeting today despite expressions of determination to agree on, and enact, a compromise farm bill before the 2014 farm policy law expires at the end of this month. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the dogged advocate of stricter farm subsidy rules, said on Tuesday that he might vote against the farm bill if his payment limit provision is cut.
Wheeler ‘working very hard’ on year-round E15, says Grassley
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is “working very hard to find a solution” for the year-round sale of E15, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Grassley also said that an earlier proposal that would allow refiners to earn the credits called RINs for exports is “no longer on the table” at the EPA.
EPA: Breaking Trump’s promise or playing by the rules?
President Trump "promised to support home-grown biofuels and Administrator (Scott) Pruitt is breaking that promise," said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday following reports the EPA issued a "hardship" waiver exempting an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn from complying with the ethanol mandate. The biofuels group Growth Energy said the waiver was "just one more example" of EPA "giving refineries everything they want."
Corn Belt senators ask EPA, who got the RFS waivers?
Pointing to reports that big oil companies have received RFS waivers intended for small-volume refiners, 13 Corn Belt senators asked EPA administrator Scott Pruitt for an accounting of the waivers and their impact on the ethanol mandate. The bipartisan group said the waivers "clearly undermine the president's long-standing support of the RFS."
China’s new tariff target list: U.S. soybeans, cotton, corn, beef, wheat
As the Trump administration is moving ahead with $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese-made technology products, Chinese officials "indicated in a very gentle way" that U.S. soybeans could face retaliation, said Iowa Sen Chuck Grassley. "Only time is going to tell" if President Trump will win the trade dispute, said Grassley, who met Chinese officials last week as part of a congressional delegation visiting China and South Korea.
In biofuel tussle, farm-sector fear that Trump will side with oil industry
President Trump campaigned as a champion of corn ethanol but, as a boon to the oil industry, he could put a cap on the price of credits, called RINs, that refiners must buy if they don't blend enough ethanol and biodiesel into the U.S. fuel supply. The idea, which Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley calls "a non-starter," splits two blocs of Trump's supporters, farmers and refinery workers.
No deal on RFS revisions, Trump asks to meet industry officials
President Trump could meet with oil and ethanol industry officials as early as Thursday, as the White House tries to resolve complaints about the federal requirement to blend biofuels into gasoline and diesel fuel. There was no agreement during a head-to-head session with four Republican senators at the center of the dispute, so the White House will "continue having conversations," said press secretary Sarah Sanders.
U.S. panel examines ag consolidation, as Bayer-Monsanto eye merger
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley set a Sept. 20 hearing to examine consolidation in the seed and agricultural chemical sector at the same time that another blockbuster merger seemed imminent. "If these mergers go through, you'd have a 'big three' instead of a 'big six' dominating the market," Grassley told reporters.