WASHINGTON – Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, released the following statement on the yield report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Based on the USDA report, American farmers are expected to produce 12.3 billion bushels of corn, the second largest U.S. corn crop in history. After estimating all of the uses of corn, USDA projects an excess corn supply of 1.6 billion bushels.
“The proof is once again in the numbers. The release of the record-breaking statistics today, along with those from the USDA crop report in June, underscores that we can grow enough corn to both feed and fuel our country, and still have an excess supply left over. What’s more is that as technologies continue to advance, our farming techniques and abilities will only get better and increase yields even more. Maybe now our critics will halt their misinformation campaign about ethanol and focus on the larger issue at hand, higher food prices. While food prices have gone down slightly, they remain at levels much higher than where they should be. For more than eight months, we have called on Big Food to take onus for these high prices and leave ethanol out of it. The clock is still ticking.”
“The USDA reports also demonstrate we have the capacity to increase the blend rate from ten percent up to 15 percent without affecting the food supply. We are now facing an oversupply of corn while American ethanol plants sit idle, construction on cellulosic plants has ground to a halt and foreign oil continues to pour into this country. Increasing the level of ethanol up to 15 percent will grow our economy and create more than 136,000 new green]collar jobs nationwide. The EPA should act quickly to provide relief to the American farmer and the American consumer.”
Earlier this year, Growth Energy submitted on behalf of 54 ethanol producers a waiver to the U.S. EPA asking for them to lift the decades-old, arbitrary limit on the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from ten percent (E10) up to 15 percent (E15). A recent study published by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute showed that increasing the amount of ethanol blended into the gasoline supply to 15 percent will have a ZERO percent change in consumer food expenditures, while increasing net farm income by $460 million.
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.