NCBA-Green New Deal and U.S. Ethanol Use Drops
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**With no sign of easing in the debate over cattle and sustainability, National Cattlemen's Beef Association updated the 2019 Policy Priorities to include the Green New Deal.
According to agrimarketing.com, the policy goal: "Oppose the Green New Deal and combat misguided climate change policies that unfairly target producers."
NCBA reports plenty of scientific research demonstrates the positive role cattle and beef play in a sustainable food system. A new USDA study also found beef cattle production is "not a significant contributor to long-term global warming."
https://www.agrimarketing.com/s/122688
**Ethanol use in the U.S. last year fell for the first time since 1998. That's according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
Agweb.com reports, the Renewable Fuels Association is blaming that fall on waivers EPA granted to refiners allowing them to forego the blending requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Ethanol consumption in the U.S. in 2017 was just short of 14-and-a-half Billion gallons, but fell more than 100 million gallons in 2018.
https://www.agweb.com/article/ethanol-use-falls-for-first-time-in-20-years/?mkt/
**Rumors were flying about China possibly buying 3 million metric tons of corn out of the Pacific Northwest. So far, USDA has no evidence of that, but they do have export numbers for the first week of March.
The numbers show China was the top buyer of U.S. soybeans during that period, buying just over 1.7 Million metric tons of the 1.9 Million sold.
South Korea was the top corn buyer, Nigeria the top wheat buyer.
https://www.agweb.com/article/china-was-the-top-buyer-of-soybeans-for-the-first-week-in-march/?mkt/