At the general session this morning in Houston, Commodity Classic attendees will hear from both USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Michael Regan in an unprecedented appearance that is expected to announce the updated GREET model that would allow corn-based ethanol to qualify as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) credits.
Mary Kay Thatcher, Federal Government and Industry Relations for Syngenta, says speculation is they will be bringing good news. “They both requested to be here so you have to believe that in an election year, you don’t bring bad news,” said Thatcher. “The speculation is that Administrator Regan will indeed announce something about the GREET model.”
However, Thatcher says it may take some time to figure out the details of the announcement. “I suspect it’s going to be so darn complex…it’s really going to take a few days to read the fine points.”
It is likely that Regan will also address the recent court decision vacating the registrations of Dicamba products and EPA’s subsequent order to allow existing stocks to be used by farmers. Thatcher says that is a major issue for growers right now. “It affects both our seed side and crop protection,” she said. “I’m told EPA says 90 percent of the Dicamba is out of the stocks of people like Syngenta, but I’ve got a lot of farmers telling me they have prepaid for their dicamba but are not getting it.”
Thatcher says EPA could make an announcement about whether they will allow the companies to release dicamba stocks in inventory or if they will appeal the decision.
Listen to this interview with Thatcher and stay tuned for the news from Classic today.
Classic24 Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta 5:29