• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Agriculture / Economists downplay impact of EPA’s RFS proposal

Economists downplay impact of EPA’s RFS proposal

December 16, 2013 By O. Kay Henderson

Two Midwestern economists say the EPA’s proposed reduction in ethanol production in 2014 will contribute to a “slow down” in what’s been a booming ag economy, but it won’t drive the farm economy into negative territory. Iowa State University economist David Swenson says there won’t be “much of an impact” on the production of ethanol

“Rolling it back to last year’s levels, that means that maybe at risk within the Iowa economy — literally — just a few dozen jobs at the production side,” Swenson says. “Now the impacts out into the farm sector, into the grain prices — that’s negative, but again the economists at Iowa State are saying, ‘Well, it’s not as much as people maybe think it’s going to be.’ Plus, they’re anticipating reasonably healthy worldwide demand for exports.”

That overseas demand should prop up corn prices, according to Swenson. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss agrees that the ethanol industry will “weather” this storm over a reduced “Renewable Fuels Standard” for ethanol production in 2014.

“There will be some job losses,” Goss says. “There’s no doubt about what, but I don’t think they’re going to be as significant as some are saying.”

Anything connected to agriculture is slowing down, according to Goss, from farm equipment sales to ag land prices, but he expects ethanol plants to survive.

“We’re seeing some of the air coming out of the agricultural bubble and we did have a bubble beginning in January of 2009,” Goss says. “…Ethanol is going to weather this.”

Goss and Swenson made their comments during a weekend appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Democratic Party, Ethanol, Republican Party

Featured Stories

Testing finds 21 new CWD cases in deer

It may become a crime in Iowa to use fake urine in workplace drug tests

February trending 18 degrees below average temperature

Iowa House Education Committee votes to end tenure at UI, ISU, UNI

Man convicted of two Muscatine County murders dies in prison

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Key stretch begins for #9 Iowa

Drake’s Roman Penn lost for the season

Drake’s DeVries named to Naismith watch list

State wrestling opens with limited attendance

Iowa’s Wieskamp is B1G Player of the Week

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC