News

RFA says new corn numbers amplify need for year-round E15

An ethanol group leader says USDA’s new corn crop projections emphasize the need for nationwide year-round E15.

Geoff Cooper is President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.  He tells Brownfield the record 17-billion bushels of corn is a phenomenal story of productivity and efficiency but, “The other edge of that sword is you’ve got to have a market for that product, and right now, farmers are seeing their markets artificially constrained and basically choked off by regulatory barriers that make absolutely no sense.”

Cooper says about 5.6 billion bushels of corn are used now for ethanol production. “We could be consuming another five or six million bushels of corn in the ethanol industry very easily if our government would get out of the way and let the marketplace sell E15 to customers year-round and nationwide.”

Cooper says more than seventy agriculture and ethanol groups recently sent a letter to Congress asking for year-round E15, and he says they will be asking lawmakers to attach year-round E15 language to any vehicle that can get it done, including the federal appropriations bill due at the end of the month.

Cooper says if the U.S. had the ability to sell E15 nationwide now, we would be talking about a major opportunity for corn demand instead of a market crisis.

AUDIO: Geoff Cooper discusses the record corn crop and how E15 could help consume more corn and improve farmer prices with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.