Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration on Friday lifted restrictions on the sale of higher ethanol blends of gasoline, keeping a campaign promise to farmers suffering from the trade war with China but inviting a legal challenge from the oil industry. The announcement allows gasoline stations to sell blends containing up to 15 per […] Read more
Trump lifts curbs on E15 gasoline
Glyphosate not a carcinogen, U.S. EPA reiterates
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Tuesday that glyphosate, a chemical in many popular weed killers, is not a carcinogen, contradicting decisions by U.S. juries that found it caused cancer in people. The EPA’s announcement reaffirms its earlier findings about the safety of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer’s […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: DDGS market to adjust with E15 move
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The prospect of higher-ethanol gasoline blends year-round in the U.S., and a likely increase in production of the renewable fuel, would also result in more distillers dried grains (DDGS) looking for a home in global livestock feed channels. However, that won’t mean an oversupply of the ethanol byproduct, as feed markets will adjust, […] Read more
Trump’s EPA unveils plan to pump up ethanol as Big Oil cries foul
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released its proposed rule lifting a summer ban on higher-ethanol blends of gasoline to help farmers, putting the agency on a collision course with Big Oil which has called the move illegal. The proposal to broaden sales of the so-called E15 rule marks the latest flashpoint […] Read more
U.S. EPA changed rules to help refiners get biofuel waivers, suit alleges
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators quietly changed the way they assess applications from refineries for waivers from the nation’s biofuels law, making it possible for highly profitable plants to secure lucrative exemptions, according to court documents filed by a biofuels trade group on Thursday. The new documents, part of a lawsuit that began last year, […] Read more
U.S. EPA sends proposed new E15 rule to White House
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it had sent a draft of its proposed rule allowing year-round sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to the White House Office of Budget for review. The rule expanding sales of so-called E15 was promised by President Donald Trump late last year […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans fall after comments on trade talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean prices fell on Wednesday after a U.S. trade official said purchase promises were not enough to solve U.S.-China trade issues and that it was too early to predict an outcome to talks between the two countries. Any deal between Washington and Beijing must include a way to ensure commitments […] Read more
U.S. EPA wins new chance to argue against pesticide ban
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The Trump administration has persuaded a U.S. appeals court to reconsider its recent decision ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the widely-used pesticide chlorpyrifos, which critics say can harm children and farmers. In an order on Wednesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it will again review former EPA administrator […] Read more
Biofuels group suing U.S. EPA over small refinery exemptions
Reading Time: 1 minute Washington | Reuters — Biofuels group Growth Energy filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday, challenging the agency’s renewable fuel mandate for 2019 as failing to address rising waived biofuel volumes. “EPA’s inaction on addressing lost gallons due to small refinery exemptions in this rulemaking is a clear violation of […] Read more
U.S. EPA lifts 2019 biofuels mandate
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday lifted its annual blending mandate for advanced biofuels, drawing praise from the U.S. biofuels industry, but disappointment that the government had not done more to protect the agricultural market. Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refiners must blend increasing amounts of biofuels into […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
