Farmers and Ethanol Workers Call for E15 Waiver
Nearly 1,000 farmers, ethanol industry workers, and other supporters from across the country sent a letter to President Biden this week calling for action to allow continued access to E15 throughout the upcoming summer driving season.
“With the 2024 summer driving season just a few months away, we are urging your administration to take additional action that will ensure consumers across the nation have uninterrupted access to lower-cost, lower-carbon E15,” the letter states. “Allowing gasoline blenders and retailers to sell E15 this summer would help moderate prices at the pump, extend fuel supplies, and deliver relief to American families at a time of year when gasoline prices typically are at their highest. Today, E15 is selling for 10- 25 cents per gallon less than standard E10 gasoline, allowing the average American household to save $125-200 on its annual gasoline bill.” (Read the letter)
According to a Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analysis of data released by state agencies in Minnesota and Iowa, total U.S. sales of E15 (15% ethanol fuel) are estimated to have hit a record 1.11 billion gallons in 2023, up 8% over 2022. The increase was due to a combination of an expansion in the number of retail stations offering E15 and the savings that E15 continued to offer to consumers.
A key reason why the average E15 volume per station has increased over the last five years is that sales have been allowed during the summer months in conventional gasoline areas. However, if the administration does not take action within the next month, E15 sales will drop precipitously in most of the country this summer, as occurred in conventional gasoline areas prior to 2019. In February of this year, EPA granted a petition from eight Midwest governors to allow year-round sales of E15. However, the petition only applies to those eight states and does not go into effect until 2025.
RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper says right now the only practical solution this summer is for waivers to be issued again by EPA as it has done in the past two years due to market conditions. “And frankly the market conditions that justified those waivers last year and two years ago still exist and in fact, you could argue that the the circumstances are worse,” said Cooper. “We have actually lower inventories of crude oil and petroleum products today than we had a year ago or two years ago. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve remains at a 40 plus year low. You’ve still got the the situation in Ukraine and now you’ve got a situation in the Middle East that is affecting global global energy markets.”
RFA joined several other organizations last week in sending a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan urging him to act swiftly on an emergency waiver for E15 sales.
Listen to Cooper’s comments on the need for a waiver.
RFA CEO Geoff Cooper need for E15 waiver 1:43
ZimmCast 728 – Global Center for AgComm
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.
I started in a career of agricultural communications back in 1983 and in all these years it is amazing how much has changed. Technology has played a major role and that includes the ability today to easily communicate about agriculture everywhere in the world. Having said this I’m going to have a conversation with Dr. Owen Roberts, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a good friend and we first met being involved at events of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists.
He is also involved with a new initiative at the University of Illinois’s College of Agriculture. And that’s the subject of this podcast episode. Plans have been made for a global center for food and agricultural communications and it is named after another good friend, Dr. James Evans – The James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications.
If you would like to contribute to this initiative you can do so online here.
Listen to the episode here:ZimmCast 728 - Global Center for AgComm (12:40)
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.
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How GHX Improves Seed Buying Experience
With GHX Yield Intelligence for example, Christy Schrader, GHX Marketing Manager for Syngenta, says farmers can turn data into decisions with customized MaxScript™ seeding recommendations focused on getting the right products and the right seeding rates for their fields, backed by the support of the GHX team.
Classic24 Christy Schrader, GHX 3:17
Syngenta made the GHX™ Mobile App available to anyone last year by creating a guest account. “The app is all based around how to we help farmers grow a better crop,” said Digital Product Manager Justin Welch. “Any farmer, not just our customers, can now have access to the GHX Mobile app and insights that can help them better run their business and, in the end, maximize profit potential by the acre.”
Classic24 Justin Welch, Syngenta 3:12
Precision Ag News 4/3
Alltech Releases 2024 Agri-Food Outlook
Global animal feed production remained steady in 2023 at 1.29 billion metric tons (BMT), a slight decrease from 2022, according to the Alltech 2024 Agri-Food Outlook annual survey, now in its 13th year, which includes data from 142 countries and more than 27,000 feed mills.
The overall lower demand for feed was due, in part, to the more efficient use of feed made possible by intensive production systems that focus on using animal nutrition, farm management and other technologies to lower feed intake while producing the same amount of protein, or more. A slowdown in the overall production of animal protein, in response to tight margins experienced by many feed and animal protein companies, also contributed to lower feed demand. Changing consumption patterns caused by inflation and dietary trends, higher production costs and geopolitical tensions also influenced feed production in 2023.
According to the survey, the top 10 feed-producing countries, which produce over 63% of the world’s production, are China (262.71 MMT), the U.S. (238.09 MMT), Brazil (83.32 MMT), India (52.83 MMT), Mexico (40.42 MMT), Russia (35.46 MMT), Spain (27.53 MMT), Vietnam (24.15 MMT), Japan (23.94 MMT) and Türkiye (23.37 MMT). Nearly half of the world’s global feed production is concentrated in China, the U.S., Brazil and India.
The survey also found a decrease in feed production for 2023 in pigs, dairy, beef, aquaculture and equine feed, with pet and broiler feed higher and feed for layers nearly steady.
Partnership to Help Farmers with Conservation Programs
A new partnership has been formed between Taranis and Steward Link to help growers with program application and validation of implemented practices to better utilize USDA conservation programs.
Taranis is a global leader in AI-powered crop intelligence, and Steward Link was created by a former USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services employee to match up farmers with federal program opportunities. The Taranis-Steward Link partnership helps present a complete and comprehensive picture of what’s happening on a designated acreage, creating a higher quality and more complete program application.
Steward Link founder Nick Thomas says farmers often don’t know about all of the programs available. “We make it our job to know about every program and then to streamline the application process by taking on the practice alignment and paperwork burden,” Thomas says. “With 2024 being the first year, what we are seeing is a high-level of technology and practice adoption amongst Taranis customers. Technology and documentation position them well for many conservation opportunities. The technology has also helped us to open the door for new programs, and the applications we have been able to complete for Taranis customers have been extremely high-quality.”
“Our service aligns perfectly with USDA’s mission to promote conservation, while maximizing profitability for growers, and therefore we have an edge on obtaining funding from USDA programs for our growers,” Taranis CEO Opher Flohr said. “I believe this is just the start as USDA continues to add funding for precise application practices that are unlocked by technologies like Taranis, we will be vigilant to make sure our growers are first in line to receive those funds.”
Animal Ag News 4/1
Agri-Pulse Welcomes Rebekah Alvey
Agri-Pulse is pleased to welcome Rebekah Alvey as an associate editor.
Alvey, who has experience covering energy and environment issues and Capitol Hill, comes to Agri-Pulse from Politico’s E&E News, where she reported on a broad swath of issues including electric vehicles and endangered species regulation, and she helped cover the House speaker race in October 2023. She earlier learned her way around Capitol Hill while with the Washington bureau of the Dallas Morning News, where she covered the Texas congressional delegation.
“We are thrilled to have Rebekah join our team and will be able to hit the ground running,” said Editor Sara Wyant. “We look forward to having her apply her data journalism skills to the complex agriculture, renewable energy, environment and food topics we cover.”
Alvey earned degrees in journalism and Arabic from Western Kentucky University, while handling multiple leadership roles at the student newspaper, the College Heights Herald. During her undergraduate studies, she spent a semester abroad at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, where she developed an interest in data journalism and political reporting. She later participated in the Politico Journalism Institute and eventually got a masters in journalism from American University.