Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/6/11

Whipsawed by corn prices that rise sharply one day and drop like a stone the next, meat industry organizations were happy to get behind new proposed legislation that aims to even out the effects of the ethanol on corn supplies and prices.

The Renewable Fuel Flexibility Act would link the amount of corn ethanol required to fulfill the Renewable Fuel Standard to the actual U.S. corn supply, according to a release posted on the website of Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.). Costa and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) co-sponsored the legislation, which was introduced Wednesday.

“I continue to support RFS. But our continued reliance on corn-based ethanol has impacts,” said Rep. Jim Costa. “While ethanol is not the only factor I am convinced it is a factor in the high prices farmers pay for feed and consumers pay for food.”

Praises
Such sentiments from a lawmaker is music to the ears of many industry organizations, which have long lobbied for changes to the laws that divert corn needed to feed livestock to distilleries that make ethanol.
The bill is endorsed by several groups, including the American Meat Institute, Grocery Manufacturer Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation and Oxfam America.

Statements of support
“Representatives Goodlatte and Costa recognize the unintended consequences on feed availability for livestock producers that artificially supporting corn-ethanol production has had.  By creating an unbiased system that would tie the RFS to feed availability, the Goodlatte-Costa bill would go a long way toward ameliorating these negative market ramifications,” said NMA CEO Barry Carpenter.
“AMI applauds Representatives Goodlatte and Costa for their bipartisan leadership on this important bill that would allow the marketplace to work through short crop years without a federal mandate dictating how the corn supply is used,” said AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle.

Meanwhile
A National Academy of Sciences report this week titled “Renewable Fuel Standard: Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of U.S. Biofuel Policy Committee”  concluded that absent technological innovation or policy changes, the Renewable Fuels Standard mandated consumption of 16 billion gallons of ethanol-equivalent cellulosic biofuels is unlikely to be met in 2022.

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