EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt visited Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota last week but received a cold shoulder from South Dakota corn growers. More than 200 participated in a tractor rally in Sioux Falls June 13 to voice their concerns about the war Pruitt has led on biofuels.
"E15, E15"
That was the message ethanol supporters wanted the EPA chief to hear at their rally. South Dakota Corn President Troy Knecht called on Pruitt to follow the president's request and open the door for E15.
"Do your job, interpret the law the way it's supposed to be interpreted, follow it and give us market access and if you can't do that then maybe it's time to find somebody who can," South Dakota Corn Growers Association President Troy Knecht said.
Knecht says if Pruitt allowed year-round E15 it would boost ethanol production and corn prices.
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"Well that would be two to three billion bushels of corn crush, that would eat up a lot of our surplus, or most of it. That might mean 50-cents to a dollar on the corn price," Knecht said.
Pruitt was also called out for undermining the Renewable Fuels Standard with plant waivers, which have cost the industry roughly $5 billion.
"It has been at least 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol. That's nearly 600 million bushels of corn, probably erasing 50-cents or more from the price of corn," Brian Jennings said.
Farmers also drove their tractors through Sioux Falls to symbolize the economic impact ethanol has on the entire state.
