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Grassley ‘going to reserve judgment’ on EPA Administrator

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Senator Chuck Grassley.

Senator Chuck Grassley today said he trusts EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to follow through on the president’s promise that a higher blend of ethanol may be sold year round, but Grassley said he’s worried Pruitt may take other actions to undermine what was discussed earlier this week during a White House meeting about ethanol.

“In other words, I’m going to reserve judgment,” Grassley said. “…Other things we talked about that they might be doing that will detract from E15 12 months out of the year.”

Grassley has been critical of the EPA’s decision to grant some oil refineries exemptions to federal ethanol mandates. During an early morning taping at Iowa Public Television of tonight’s “Iowa Press” program, Grassley was asked about Pruitt’s future.

“Have you about had it with Scott Pruitt?” a reporter asked.

Grassley paused for a deep breath before replying.

“On ethanol, yes,” Grassley said. “On everything else he’s done, no, except for the ethics questions and I’m going to wait until we get done with the investigation on the ethics questions.”

Grassley is pleased with Pruitt decisions which have rolled-back Obama-era regulations, including the Waters of the U.S. rule that groups like the Farm Bureau opposed. Pruitt was serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general when President Trump nominated him to serve as EPA administrator. Grassley said he’s been surprised by reports of Pruitt’s spending habits in the agency.

“I would think that a person who came from state government where you don’t have all the atributes of playing with the people’s money like you do in Washington, D.C., I would think he would come in there with a very conservative approach,” Grassley said. “I don’t see it with some of the things he’s done.”

A former EPA aide told congress in April that Pruitt spent $43,000 to turn a closet into a soundproof phone booth in his office. Pruitt also spent $9000 installing office locks that are opened by fingerprints. Pruitt’s accused of pursuing a lavish lifestyle on the taxpayers’ dime, including first class air travel and five-star hotels. President Trump took to Twitter last month to defend Pruitt, saying Pruitt was doing a “fantastic job” as head of the EPA.

Renewable Fuels Association leader happy with president’s E-15 stance

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The leader the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says some good things came out of a White House meeting on ethanol Tuesday,  but says there are still some things that remain unsettled.

IRFA executive director Monte Shaw says the reports he got on the meeting from Iowa’s two U.S. Senators was positive in one area. There was some very good news,” Shaw says, “the president did agree to authorize the sale of E-15 year-round. That was talked about before, that was stated very clearly in the meeting and even (Texas Senator) Ted Cruz tweeted about that part of the meeting accurately. So, that’s something that we can take away from this.” Shaw says there now needs to be action on the E-15 issue.

“We need to see ’em do it, they need to get that process going,” Shaw says. One of the issues that Shaw says was left unresolved is handling the credits given to refineries for blending ethanol with gasoline that are commonly known as RINS (like tins). Shaw says Senator Cruz brought up a plan to let refineries get the credits for ethanol that is exported to count toward the gallons required under the Renewable Fuels Standard.

“It’s awfully hard for me to imagine how a program like that could even function number one — let alone be good for us,” Shaw says. “If you start allowing exported gallons of renewable fuels to count toward the RFS, it’s just gallon-for-gallon demand destruction. Every gallon we export is a gallon they don’t have to blend here in the United States.”

Shaw says the reports he’s gotten indicate things should be moving the right way for ethanol. “From what we’ve been told, everybody in that room from the president all the way down to Ted Cruz was on the same page that the president was going to move forward on E-15 year round sales. That is excellent news,” according to Shaw. “They all agreed — despite Cruz promoting this — that there was not going to be any type of RIN cap or RFS waiver scheme of the type that he was promoting. That is good news,” Shaw says.

He says another issue is the ethanol exemptions that were intended to help small refineries deal with the ethanol blend mandate that were given to large refineries. Shaw says Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and EPA Administrator Scott Pruit are exploring that situation and will report back.

“That was I would say an outstanding discussion that was not finalized and we have to now see what EPA Administrator Pruit and U.S.D.A. Secretary Perdue come back with . They were charged with coming up with a plan that would deal with small refinery exemptions,” Shaw says. He says the outcome could go either way.

“They could come up with a plan that we could support and that’d be great. Or they might come up with a plan that says ‘hey we’re just going to do these export RINS’ — and that would be horrible and we would oppose that. So, we’ll just have to wait and see and the story continues,” Shaw explains.

Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing nearly 4.4 billion gallons annually.

Senator Joni Ernst released this statement on the meeting:

“Today, the President outlined his intention to direct the sale of E15 year-round, a move that will help put Iowa’s corn farmers, ethanol producers, and our rural communities on a promising path forward.

“While I am still assessing the full implications of the President’s notion to attach Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) to exported ethanol, an idea Administrator Pruitt committed to not pursue in a letter last October, I am pleased that the President did not move forward with a RIN cap that would have destroyed demand, hurting both farmers and biofuel producers. Allowing E15 year-round will drive up domestic ethanol production and consumption to help maintain already low RIN prices. Additionally, I am encouraged the administration will be taking a closer look at the “hardship” waivers that have been abused by EPA to undermine the RFS.

“I will continue working with this administration to ensure the commitments made today protect Iowa’s 88,000 farms and the 50,000 jobs tied to the renewable fuels industry.”

Senator Chuck Grassley released this statement on the meeting:

 “President Trump agreed to allow for the sale E15 year-round. That’s good news for farmers and consumer choice at the pump. Allowing higher blends of ethanol to be sold in the summer months fits in well with EPA’s deregulatory agenda. There was also an agreement to not pursue an artificial cap on RIN prices, which would have destroyed demand for biofuels and hurt biofuels workers.

“I told the President and Administrator Pruitt that EPA’s ‘hardship’ waivers for billionaires are hurting biofuels and undermining the RFS. They also undercut the President’s commitment to meet the annual 15 billion gallon volume obligation set by Congress under the RFS. There was discussion about how to reallocate the waived obligations so that demand for biofuels wouldn’t be hurt. While details weren’t decided, I look forward to reviewing a plan being developed by Secretary Perdue and Administrator Pruitt. Any fix can’t hurt domestic biofuels production.”

Iowa Senators to talk ethanol with Ag Secretary, EPA head and President Trump

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Senator Joni Ernst. (file photo)

Iowa’s two U.S. senators will be at the White House this morning for a meeting with President Trump focused on ethanol and other biofuels.

Senator Chuck Grassley says he and Senator Joni Ernst will be in the room with other top players, including U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Grassley says Pruitt has broken several promises over biofuels. Grassley says, “The bottom line is that Administrator Pruitt is falling well short of President Trump’s 15-billion gallon political promise that he made to the people of Iowa and other states that produce ethanol.” Iowa is the nation’s number-one ethanol producer. Grassley criticizes various decisions Pruitt has made that benefit oil producers and hurt Midwestern farmers, for example, granting so-called “hardship waivers” to oil refiners.

Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

“Pruitt is doing a disservice to the president, a disservice to the country,” Grassley says. “Homegrown biofuels help make our air cleaner, our economy stronger and our country more secure.” In a similar White House meeting earlier this year, Grassley said President Trump proclaimed he was committed to the year-round sale of the 15-percent blend of ethanol.

“Senator Ernst and I also plan on pressing the president to direct EPA to quickly implement the waiver that allows E-15 to be sold in the summer months as well as the other nine months of the year.” Grassley notes that as head of the EPA, Pruitt is authorized to make that happen, immediately, which would be a boost for Iowa ethanol producers. In this morning’s conference call with Grassley, Radio Iowa asked the senator if he might suggest to President Trump that Pruitt should be fired.

“We have had meetings at the White House, been briefed on what they were supposed to cover and find out they don’t exactly go the way we were told they were supposed to go,” Grassley says. “I guess I can’t comment on your question until I get into that environment.” The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:15 am/central time.

 

Pelosi visits central Iowa farm, warns RFS under attack

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Nancy Pelosi visits a central Iowa farm.

California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi — the top-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives — toured a central Iowa farm early this morning.

Pelosi’s visit follows her speech last (Sunday) night at a fundraiser for Polk County Democrats, where she told the crowd the Farm Bill Republicans are crafting “weakens the safety net for producers.”

“I was just in the (Des Moines) airport. I saw a big sign that said: ‘Feeding the World. It’s in Iowa’s DNA,'” Pelosi said,” not necessarily these guys in D.C.”

According to Pelosi, the next Farm Bill could come up for a vote in congress this month and she warned it will reduce funding for biofuels.

“Who advises them? Where did they come up with this?” Pelosi said. “…It’s about powering the world from here.”

Pelosi emphasized that the Renewable Fuels Standard was included in the energy bill that cleared congress in 2007, when Democrats were in control, and she said today key Republicans are trying to “undermine” the yearly federal ethanol production mandate.

“Between the waivers and the carve out of the Trump Administration and GOP congress deep in the pocket of ‘Big Oil,’ the Renewable Fuels Standard is under attack,” Pelosi said. “We can fight that in a bipartisan way.”

This morning, Pelosi was joined by local farmers for a discussion about the Farm Bill. None of the Democrats in Iowa who’re running for congress were there. None attended her speech in Des Moines last night either, including Dave Loebsack of Iowa City, the only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation.

Republicans are preparing campaign ads linking Democratic candidates across the country with the unpopular Pelosi.

Iowa Senators continue pushing for year-round E-15 sales

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Senators are pushing for year-round sales of E-15.

It’s possible the 15% ethanol blend called E-15 will be available for sale this summer, according to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.

The Iowa Republican was among some 20 senators from both parties who signed a letter Monday to EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, urging him to reverse the rule which forbids the sale of E-15 during the summer months.

“I would guess that he would have to, based upon the president wanting him to do it,” Grassley says, “so I expect that he will — and he better.” In a White House meeting a few weeks ago, Grassley notes that President Trump said he was committed to the year-round sale of the biofuel.

“I was in the cabinet room with other senators and congressmen and four governors, including our Governor Kim Reynolds, when he said that’s what he was going to have done,” Grassley says, “and we’ve had Pruitt saying he was looking at it for the past 16 months he’s been in office.” Pruitt has been under fire for allowing oil refineries to get so-called hardship waivers for which some believe they’re not entitled.

Grassley says it’s entirely possible the oil industry will sue over the E-15 issue, if the fuel is made available all year. “Big oil is hurting the small family farmers by the refineries getting these exemptions from these waivers,” Grassley says. “That’s really cutting down on the amount of ethanol that’s being produced from corn and that’s going to put greater weight on the drop in corn prices.”

Iowa is the nation’s number-one ethanol producer with 43 plants churning out nearly one-third of the nation’s ethanol.

 

Iowan inside Trump Administration urges calm amid trade spat with China (AUDIO)

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Sam Clovis

An Iowan who’s serving in the Trump Administration after working on Trump’s 2016 campaign today said Iowans should trust Donald Trump’s negotiating skills. Sam Clovis, a former Morningside College economics profession, is urging farmers to “be calm” amid the angst over falling commodity prices and tariff threats.

“It’s hard. I know it’s hard, but I think they also need to be patient because he’s not going to sell the country down the river,” Clovis says. “He’s not.”

Clovis, a Republican candidate for the US Senate in 2014, joined the Trump campaign in August of 2015 and is now working in the USDA. Clovis suggested some headway already has been made in the trade dispute with China.

“We’ll pull out of this in good shape,” Clovis said. “Now there’s going to be some give and take. There always is, but we’re going to get a good deal because I have confidence in the guy making the deal. I do.”

Clovis spoke to the Westside Conservative Club early this morning.

AUDIO of Clovis’ remarks

“I am so tired of being dragged through a knothole by The Washington Post and The New York Times. In fact, I really feel slighted if I go a week without my name being mentioned prominently in something. In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t play the Russian national anthem when I came up here,” Clovis said and the audience laughed.

Clovis did not use the term “witch hunt” in reference to the investigation into Russian meddling in the last election, but he did offer a strong defense of the president. Clovis, who testified before the grand jury, told Iowans this (Wednesday) morning he “was right in the middle” of recruiting many of the Trump campaign officials who’ve been the focus of attention.

“The surprising aspect of all this is — and I have to be careful what I say — is that when there’s nothing there folks, there’s nothing there,” Clovis said. “…It is stunning how incredibly convoluted that whole narrative has become and how totally inaccurate it has been presented in the press.”

Clovis said he’s not “bitter or resentful” about opposition to his nomination to be an undersecretary in the USDA. Clovis withdrew his name from consideration for the post last fall.

Clovis is spending much of a two-week vacation with his wife at their northwest home in Hinton, Iowa. Clovis joked with the central Iowa crowd this (Wednesday) morning that he’s lived out of a suitcase for four-and-a-half of the last five years.

Clovis answered questions from the audience about the “deep state” and the “bare knuckle fist fight” over the ethanol production mandate.

Renewable fuels advocates sound alarm about possible RFS waivers

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The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says a just-revealed oil industry study shows a proposal by Texas Senator Ted Cruz could have a devastating impact on the ethanol and biodiesel industries in Iowa.

IRFA president Monte Shaw says the plan would give waiver credits to oil refiners for the Renewable Fuels Standard. “That they could use for compliance with the program without actually blending the 15 billion gallons. And out point was…if you are not blending the 15 billion gallons — then you are not protecting the 15 billion-gallon RFS,” according to Shaw. He says the plan goes against the purpose of requiring a set amount of renewable fuel use.

“It’s just a scheme,” Shaw says, “so, anything that reduces blending below 15 billion gallons even though you are quote-unquote complying with the R-F-S because you have these artificial waiver credits, still undermines the RFS.” Shaw says President Donald Trump needs to know what the impact of the plan will be.

“The president needs to hear these facts, he needs to be aware of this study that was apparently made public — I doubt that they wanted it made public — because it undercuts all of their arguments that they’ve been using,” Shaw says. “And he needs to stand firm behind his promise to the Iowa voter and the Iowa farmer to protect the RFS.”

The Executive Director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, Grant Kimberley, says the plan would cut biodiesel production by 300 million gallons.

“This happens to be exactly or almost exactly what the state of Iowa produced for our entire biodiesel industry this past year,” Kimberley says. “So basically, you are talking about wiping out the entire Iowa biodiesel industry by doing this.” Kimberly says there would be other impacts.

“We’d see a 185 million dollars more in feed costs for livestock producers around the country — likely leading to an increase in food costs for consumers,” he says. And he says there would be other impacts on commodities.

He says soybean farmers would see a reduction of prices by at least 15 cents a bushel. The White House has scheduled a meeting for Monday morning (March 12th) to discuss the future of the RFS. Shaw says if the Cruz plan is adopted, Iowa State University has determined that corn prices would drop an additional 25 cents per bushel from already low levels.

 

Ernst says with farms ‘barreling toward crisis,’ president should reconsider tariffs

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Senator Joni Ernst.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst late this afternoon said a “brush fire of retaliation” could erupt if President Trump doesn’t reconsider imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports — and Iowa’s economy will suffer.

“This threat of retaliation is a reality. History has shown that retaliatory tariffs are often targeted at agriculture,” Ernst said. “Our farmers are deeply fearful and I share their sentiment.”

For example, Ernst noted China is the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans and may choose to buy beans elsewhere after the tariffs take effect.

“With already low commodity prices, farms are barreling toward crisis. There are other countries that are ready, filling and able to fill the food product demands of China and other nations that seek to buy U.S. agricultural exports,” Ernst said. “Iowans cannot afford a trade war.”

Trump — over the objections of fellow Republicans like Ernst — signed an order this afternoon that will impose the tariffs later this month. Ernst released a video statement shortly afterwards.

“You cannot build a grain bin out of a paper bag or plow a field with a toothpick,” Ernst said. “You see, our farmers rely on steel and aluminum for the products and equipment that make farms work. Imported products like these are used to keep farm operations moving and making money.”

Ernst warned the tariffs will trigger higher prices on farm equipment and other product and “drastically increase the cost of doing business.” Ernst cited notable Iowa manufacturers like John Deere, Vermeer, Lennox and Des Moines Steel as companies that would be hit with higher production costs.

“As Iowans know, free and fair trade is not just a lofty Washington principle,” Ernst said in the video statement. “It is at the core of Iowa’s economy and sustains our families and farms.”

Ernst said she agreed with President Trump “on many things,” but she warned tariffs will prompt customers in other countries to buy elsewhere.

“I couldn’t agree more when the president has said that the U.S. should be its own boss when it comes to driving our trade policies, but America must understand its customers,” Ernst said. “…We simply cannot afford to be the over-priced boutique when the store down the street is selling the same goods at a discount price. We will lose every time.”

Ernst and the rest of Iowa’s congressional delegation sent Trump a letter Wednesday, pleading with the president not to take the action he took today.

Iowa’s Bill Northey now U.S.D.A. Undersecretary

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Northey takes the oath from Perdue.

A day after resigning as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey took the oath of office for a federal job.  Northey is now an Undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue flew to Iowa to conduct the ceremony tonight at a previously scheduled ag leadership banquet on the state fairgrounds.

After the event, Perdue told reporters Northey will be in charge of organizing and consolidating some agencies within the U.S.D.A. — that includes the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency.

“So we can have a one-stop shop for farmers where they can come in and get answers. Their databases need to coincide and work together, get our IT working and there are a lot of challenges out there and we’re going to do it,” Perdue said. “We’re both sooner-rather-than-later kind of people.”

Northey delivered a 15-minute speech at the banquet. He started with a thank you to Iowans who supported him and near the end Northey thanked his sister and her husband for taking over his farming operation near Spirit Lake.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be able to work for all of you at U.S.DA.,” Northey said, “…and to serve in a way that certainly magnifies or is an example of the support that you all have shown me through the years and certainly in the last four months.”

Bill Northey, Sonny Perdue and Kim Reynolds.

In early September, President Trump nominated Northey to be Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. A committee in the U.S. Senate endorsed his nomination in October, but Texas Senator Ted Cruz held up a senate vote on Northey as leverage for changes in the federal ethanol production mandate. Perdue told the crowd Northey had “finally been liberated from the U.S. Senate” last week.

“In case you have any questions about it, Bill Northey, Sonny Perdue and Donald J. Trump stand for the (Renewable Fuels Standard), unequivocally,” Perdue said and the crowd gave that statement a standing ovation.

Perdue called Northey an “evangelist” about what’s working in Iowa agriculture and someone who has the “moxie to get things done” in the U.S.D.A.

“I frankly have been congratulated so much tonight over Bill Northey, I feel like I’m getting married,” Perdue quipped and the crowd laughed.

This was Perdue’s fourth visit to Iowa since he was sworn in as U.S. ag secretary last April. It’s his first since President Trump announced tariffs on steel imports and tweeted about winning a trade war. During a question-and-answer session with reporters, Perdue was asked how Iowa farmers who may be “spooked” by those developments should react.

“Pray,” Perdue responded, laughing. “…President Trump is a unique negotiator and sometimes he keeps people off-balance, even his own staff sometimes…He certainly did that this last week…He believes solely in his heart ‘America first’ and the American people first and that includes American agriculture.”

Perdue told reporters he and others are working “feverishly” with the president on trade issues. Perdue suggested Trump’s unconventional comments may have positioned the U.S. for a breakthrough in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Democrat Tim Gannon announces bid for Iowa Agriculture Secretary

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Tim Gannon

An Iowan who was an administrator of the U.S.D.A.’s Risk Management Agency is running for the Iowa Democratic Party’s nomination for state ag secretary. Tim Gannon, a Mingo native, says the state’s agricultural sector and rural Iowa face some big challenges.

“Growing up in a small town and farming with my dad on our family’s century farm…and the experience I have having worked eight years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture lend me the needed tools to take on this job,” Gannon says.

Gannon, who lives in Des Moines, is a crop insurance agent and is farming with his dad and cousin on the family’s 950 acre farm near Mingo.

“I think I’ve been an ambassador for our state and especially its farmers and folks who live in the rural parts for as long as I’ve been alive,” Gannon says. “…We’ve got to not only continue to lead the world and lead the country in growing corn and beans and raising pigs and eggs, but we’ve also got to figure out new ways to add value to those products.”

Gannon says agriculture is the “foundation” of the state’s economy and job-creation prospects and that’s why it’s important to keep processing ag commodities here, “especially in small towns.” Protecting the state’s soil and water will keep “Iowa’s best and brightest” living in rural Iowa, according to Gannon. And Gannon says he hopes to be a bridge uniting those who practice “traditional” agriculture and those embracing organic practices.

“The first thing we have to realize is there are a whole lot fewer people living and working and making their living in rural Iowa than there are in other places,” Gannon says, “and so if we’re not united in rural Iowa, it makes it harder to make progress on things that we all agree about.”

A few Republicans have announced they are runing for secretary of agriculture. Current Ag Secretary Bill Northey was nominated for a top job in the U.S.D.A, months ago, but hasn’t been able to take the post because Texas Senator Ted Cruz is blocking a senate confirmation vote on Northey’s nomination.