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Ag industry awaits ethanol decision

Todd Hill
Reporter
A school bus passes a pile of milo at a grain storage facility  Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, near Canton, Kan. The crop is used mainly for feeding cattle and ethanol production. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BUCYRUS - Any day now — as soon as Wednesday, and no later than Monday — the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will announce its latest rule on blending targets in the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The administration of President Barack Obama has talked about lowering the amount of ethanol going into the U.S. fuel supply next year, a position that has many in agriculture upset, and just as many pleased. The lobbying, from both sides, has continued at a blistering pace as the EPA's decision looms.

The RFS was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005, ostensibly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to ease the country's dependence on foreign oil. However, the RFS also has been good for the nation's corn farmers, and since 2005, more acreage has gone under the plow in the U.S. to grow corn for ethanol.

Writing to Obama earlier this month, the National Corn Growers Association noted the nation's farmers "produced another massive crop that is more than sufficient to meet current food, feed and fuel needs."

However, that bounty also serves to keep the price of corn coming from the farm down, to about $3.65 a bushel, which is around 90 cents a bushel below the cost of production for many farmers.

"Your administration's proposed blending targets will decrease the availability of renewable fuels, further exacerbating already low corn prices, and causing further significant harm to the agriculture sector," association President Chip Bowling wrote Obama.

Bowling added that, despite what the oil industry claims, biofuels have not driven up the price of food or fuel. But others, and not just Big Oil, beg to differ.

"The government-mandated Renewable Fuel Standard is unequivocally broken," National Turkey Federation president Joel Brandenberger said as he called for Washington to take "decisive action to remove the corn ethanol mandate and its negative consequences to food production and consumers everywhere."

Finally, as televised ads on the RFS continue, it was announced by a pro-ethanol group on Monday that Chris Soules, a contestant on TV's "The Bachelor" and "Dancing with the Stars," and an Iowa farmer, will appear in a weeklong run of ads in four Midwestern states including Ohio, touting the benefits of ethanol.

Monarch butterflies

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing another $4 million next year to help agricultural producers bring the monarch butterfly back to healthy numbers. The migrating insects have seen their populations drop from 1 billion in 1995 to 34 million today, in part because of the dwindling stands of native milkweed plants in states such as Ohio.

"These once-common butterflies are growing less familiar, and we know private lands will continue to play a crucial role in aiding the recovery of this species that serves as an indicator of ecosystem health," said Jason Weller, chief of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The $4 million will be used to provide technical and financial assistance to help farmers plant milkweed and other nectar-rich plants along field borders and other buffers. For information, contact a local USDA service center.

Easement program

Twenty-three entities across Ohio will receive funding from the state's Department of Agriculture in 2016 to preserve farmland by the closure and monitoring of easements under the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.

Locally, the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District will receive $279,980, allowing it to accept applications from county landowners interested in selling an agricultural easement on their farms. The farm must remain permanently in agricultural production, be 40 acres or more, be actively engaged in farming, and be a participant in the Current Agricultural Use Valuation program.

Contact the conservation district to apply. Since 2008, 354 family farms in 54 Ohio counties have preserved more than 59,000 acres in agricultural production through the program.

Spuds

No Thanksgiving week column would be complete without touching on at least a few of the food items set to be enjoyed this week, especially since turkey has already been mentioned.

Early-summer rains did Ohio's potato crop no favors this year. According to Cheryl Turner, statistician in the Ohio field office of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, the average potato yield this year was 50 percent lower than in 2014, even though planted and harvested acres were unchanged.

However, potato growers in Maine, Michigan and North Dakota have experienced record yields.

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ