RFS Waiver

October 11 was the final day to submit comments on a waiver of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Several thousand comments were submitted from both sides of the fence on this issue. Major players in the ethanol industry say such a waiver would not bring down feed prices, or reduce retail meat prices, and would only discourage farmers from planting corn next spring, thus hindering the biofuels industry. The RFA also stresses that the RFS itself is not causing the harm, but rather that waiver requests point to the drought. On the flip side, national representatives for livestock producers have pointed out that it’s a combination of the drought and the federal requirement for corn ethanol production that has resulted in a major squeeze on feed grains, pushing feed prices sky high, therefore causing severe economic strain on livestock producers. The RFS requires 13.2 billion gallons of corn based ethanol be blended into gasoline in 2012, and 13.9 billion gallons in 2013; using roughly 4.7 billion and 4.9 billion bushels, respectively, of the nation’s corn crops. In comparing the latest USDA crop estimate of 10.7 billion bushels of corn being harvested this year, nearly half of this year’s corn crop is expected to be used for corn ethanol production.