California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and EPA's Retro Volume Obligations
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**The California Farm Bureau, the Golden State’s largest agricultural organization, held its 103rd Annual Meeting in Orange County last week.
The session opened with President Jamie Johansson calling for policies that support climate-smart agriculture but don’t compromise farmers’ ability to bring crops to market.
Johansson said farmers must be allowed to undertake conservation efforts without harmful government interference. “It’s not a climate solution,” he said, “if you make farmers less efficient.”
**Critics of the EPA’s renewable volume obligations announcement say the proposal sets the precedent of revising previously finalized volumes in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
EPA proposes to retroactively reopen and reduce the finalized 2020 renewable volume obligation, slashing the already settled conventional biofuel blending volume for that year from 15 billion gallons to 12.5 billion gallons.
Iowa Corn Growers Association President Lance Lillibridge says, “Biden's own EPA is undercutting the benefits of clean-burning ethanol and the livelihoods of corn farmers.”
**The USDA announced its relief program for biofuel producers, in conjunction with the EPA’s volume announcement.
USDA says up to $800 million will support biofuel producers and infrastructure, a long-awaited announcement authorized by the CARES Act.
The funding includes $700 million to provide economic relief to biofuel producers and restore renewable fuel markets affected by the pandemic and $100 million for expanding infrastructure for renewable fuels.
