After years of hard work from Iowa’s federal delegation, the Senate is finally on the cusp of passing a new farm bill. This bill includes provisions that will help farmers navigate challenges in their operations that have been unaddressed and open new markets for commodities, such as year-round E15 sales nationwide.
However, this effort may fall short of the finish line because of special interests that have lobbied for preferential treatment in the bill. Many large, multinational refining companies have inserted a small refinery exemption (SRE) into the farm bill in an effort to shield themselves from blending requirements. As written, the SRE allows these big refiners to qualify for the SRE by dividing their massive refining capacity among dozens of smaller facilities. They are major players in the industry who make massive profits and simply want to skirt the rules and snub American farmers for a minuscule amount of extra profit.
Iowa’s farmers desperately need a new, updated farm bill to keep their operations going for the next generation. This bill is already long overdue. The Senate has a choice to make: side with the so-called “small refiners” and keep the SRE provision in the farm bill, or side with Iowa farmers, strip the SRE from the farm bill, and provide much-needed relief for the people who feed and fuel the country.
- Gary Leffler