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Government acknowledges increased costs related to renewable fuels
Story Date: 6/28/2013
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Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 6/27/13
Testimony on Wednesday from government representatives in the debate over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) cited increased costs to animal agriculture as the price of corn continues to rise. Additionally, the government officials noted the extent that recent droughts have led to reduced stores of corn, as a supply, when a harvest falls short.
On Wednesday afternoon the House Energy and Commerce Committee heard witnesses from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the chief economist from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Animal agriculture has long been suffering at the hand of this broken policy, especially feed costs in the turkey business,” Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation (NTF), said in a news release. “The RFS has caused an increase of $1.9 billion in feed cost alone for turkey farmers, as corn continues to be syphoned off to ethanol.”
Congress created the RFS Program in 2005 to mandate the minimum amount of renewable fuel— almost exclusively corn-based ethanol — that must be blended into motor fuels annually. In 2007, Congress increased the RFS significantly and added biodiesel, while permitting the EPA to govern implementation of the congressional mandate.
“While we appreciate the government officials acknowledging these issues for animal agriculture, they have not gone far enough to link the crisis to the ethanol mandate,” Brandenberger said. “Ethanol is the primary cause behind the financial struggles for turkey farmers, and our voice will continue to be heard as these hearings continue.”
In May the NTF was one of seven livestock and poultry groups that submitted comments to the committee outlining the negative effects the RFS has had on agriculture, including the high cost of feed. The groups’ goal was to provide some answers to several questions that the committee had posed regarding the impact of the RFS.
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