May 16, 2025

The EPA Sends RVO Proposal to the White House

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent a proposed rule setting the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into their fuel starting next year. Reuters says the White House must sign off on the proposal from the EPA. The oil and biofuel lobbies have been waiting for this proposal since President Donald Trump took office in January. The past dynamic of big oil versus biofuels has changed in recent years as a coalition of oil and biofuel groups recommended the EPA propose federal mandates for biomass-based diesel blending at 5.25 billion gallons. That figure would be a significant increase from past mandates. Soybean oil futures dropped on Thursday due to rumors that the EPA’s proposed rule would set biomass-based diesel blending for 2026 at 4.65 billion gallons, but Reuters was unable to confirm that figure. The EPA is expected to propose a new rule that covers both 2026 and 2027. 
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House Ag Committee Advances Budget Bill

The House Agriculture Committee voted along party lines 29-25 to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 billion in food aid spending to pay for Republicans’ domestic policy megabill and some farm bill programs. Politico says the vote sends the measure to the House Budget Committee for consideration before a full floor vote on the bill in the chamber. “The GOP proposal would create the largest overhaul in decades to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by forcing states to share the cost of SNAP benefits,” Politico said. Republicans exceeded the Ways and Means Committee’s target of $230 billion in spending cuts to get enough room to include a $60 billion farm bill package in the megabill, a critical incentive for passing the legislation. Under the bill, the individual limit for commodity program payments would rise, as would funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program.  
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Democrats Push Back Against Budget Bill

Democrats responded negatively to House Republicans advancing their budget to slash Medicaid and food assistance through markup. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Donald Trump’s Republican Party turned its back on working families to “suck up” to billionaire donors. “House Republicans voted to push forward Trump’s plan to rip away health care from 13.7 million Americans and slash $300 billion in food assistance benefits,” said Martin, ”just to fund handouts for the ultra-wealthy.” Democrats also issued a message to House Republicans, saying, “Start working for your constituents or lose your seat in the midterm elections.” The Hill said the committee voted along party lines after a marathon meeting lasting more than 26 hours with just two breaks for House votes. The Congressional Budget Office says at least 13.7 million Americans would lose health coverage and become uninsured because of the Medicaid cuts and ACA market restrictions in the legislation.
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NASS Releases 2024 County Corn and Soybean Yields

The National Agricultural Statistics Service released the 2024 county yield estimates for corn and soybeans. Following typical patterns, corn and soybean yields were highest in the Midwest Corn Belt region and south into the Mississippi Delta. Counties with yields above the U.S. average occurred in the typical regions. Most counties in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana had yields higher than the U.S. average, as did eastern Nebraska, southeast Minnesota, and several other states. Corn yields below the national average occurred in the western Dakotas, northern portions of the Lake states, Texas, Oklahoma, and most states in the east and southeastern U.S. Similar to corn, soybean yields above the U.S. average yield occurred in most counties throughout the main Corn Belt region, including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and bordering regions of the surrounding states, and in the Mississippi Delta. Yields below the U.S. average were reported in the other soybean production regions for 2024. 
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NACD President Testifies on Conservation

The National Association of Conservation Districts President Gary Blair testified at the Senate Ag Committee hearing regarding Perspectives from the Field, Part 4: Conservation. “Getting funding to local communities to assist producers with conservation plans and implement beneficial practices remains a mutual priority,” says President Blair. “NACD’s historic partnership is a prime example of ‘Farmers First’ – local leadership, local priorities, and local decision-making are at the heart of our conservation delivery system.” Producer demand for technical assistance and conservation programs is at an all-time high. In his testimony, Blair emphasized the importance of maintaining adequate staffing levels in local offices. “A lack of capacity can become a bottleneck in administering important financial assistance contracts to producers,” he said. NACD’s top farm bill priority is to integrate Inflation Reduction Act investments into the farm bill’s conservation programs. “Financial assistance is an investment in our nation’s lands,” said NACD CEO Jeremy Peters.
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U.S. Sugar Producers Pushing for Stronger Farm Bill

Across rural America, farmers of all kinds of commodities are sending a clear message to Congress: pass a five-year farm bill now, before it’s too late. Congress hasn’t updated the farm bill since 2018. Instead, it’s patched together two year-long extensions that do not address the current economic realities of farming in the U.S. Fourth-generation Minnesota farmer and sugarbeet grower Tim Deal stressed the urgent need for a farm bill during Congressional testimony. “As things stand, the extended 2018 Farm Bill safety net is woefully out of sync with today’s economic realities,” he said. “If Congress doesn’t pass a farm bill that provides meaningful updates to these policies, including sugar policy, many farmers will struggle to find financing for our operations.” He also said the closure of sugar processing facilities in northeastern Montana and Texas should be an urgent wakeup call that we can’t allow U.S. sugar policy to be weakened. 
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