In central Iowa, farm families are feeling the impact of COVID-19. From the inability to get our livestock to processing facilities, to the continued attacks by big oil on our ethanol sector, there’s no shortage of challenges these days.
Planting is finishing up across the state, and we’ve had largely favorable conditions. Typically, around 40 percent of our crop would be going into ethanol production. Unfortunately, we are seeing the oil industry move in and try to take advantage of a crisis by asking the Environmental Protection Agency for a nationwide waiver from the nation’s biofuel laws. The plan should be dead on arrival.
It’s a heartbreaking situation to see an industry that was built by farmers, for farmers, forced to shutter almost half of the plants and production capacity. Fuel demand is down drastically, and we’re getting dangerously close to some plants across the heartland being unable to open their doors again.
Ethanol producers represent the heart of the rural economy. When our plants begin shutting down, everyone hurts. This includes not only the farmer, but the truckers, suppliers, as well as meatpackers and ranchers that need animal feed and carbon dioxide for refrigeration.
As Congress begins looking at perhaps what will be the most critical relief package yet, if we don’t see action in this next round for our ethanol producers, the entire rural economy is going to be impacted. We need the Trump Administration to focus in on restoring rural manufacturing jobs and critical markets for our commodities, not destroying them.
Thad Nearmyer
Monroe