U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley speaks to reporters after a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 14, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Ag-state senator says Trump EPA ‘screwed us’ with biofuel waivers

Washington | Reuters — Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has “screwed” the U.S. ethanol industry and farmers by granting waivers to 31 small petroleum refineries, effectively exempting them from an obligation to use more ethanol in their products. The powerful senator, who represents the largest ethanol-producing state in […] Read more

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U.S. EPA proposes hike in 2020 biofuel mandate

Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday proposed refiners increase the volume of biofuels blended into their annual fuel output but did not reallocate the waived amounts under the hardship program, drawing ire from powerful corn and biofuel groups as well as Republican senators. The EPA is charged with setting […] Read more



United States Senator and current democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a stop to the Downtown Farmers’ Market in Des Moines on Saturday, May 4, 2019, to greet Iowans. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave, The Register (Des Moines) via Reuters Marketplace)

Bernie Sanders promises help for family farms

Reuters — U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders unveiled a plan on Sunday to help family farmers and rural residents, promising to break up corporate agricultural monopolies and invest heavily in social and economic programs in struggling rural communities. Sanders, an independent U.S. senator and fierce corporate critic, said on a campaign trip to Iowa that […] Read more





The AltEn ethanol plant at Mead, Neb. on March 21, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Humeyra Pamuk)

Floods shut nearly a sixth of U.S. ethanol production

Mead, Neb./New York | Reuters — Massive flooding in the U.S. Midwest has knocked out roughly 13 per cent of the nation’s ethanol production capacity, as plants in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota have been forced to shut down or scale back production following the devastation. Production facilities owned by large companies like Archer Daniels […] Read more