The USDA reported today that American farmers are expected to harvest a record-large corn crop of 16.7 billion bushels this fall, while the corn surplus is projected to rise to its highest level in eight years and prices are set to sink to six-year lows. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, today’s USDA report clearly highlights the urgent need to remove artificial regulatory barriers that are undercutting demand and constraining market opportunities for both corn and ethanol.
“Alarm bells are ringing across rural America following today’s USDA report, and they should be ringing in the halls of Congress,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper, noting that this year’s crop is forecast to be nearly 2 billion bushels larger than last year’s crop. “Our nation’s farmers are doing their job—they are sustainably and efficiently producing the largest corn crop in history. But antiquated policies and regulations—like the summertime prohibition on E15, outdated pump labeling obligations, and needless equipment certification requirements—are stifling demand and failing America’s farmers.”
Cooper continued, “The best way to boost demand for U.S. crops is to truly unleash American ethanol and open the market to higher blends. Over the long-term, year-round availability of E15 nationwide presents a new demand opportunity for more than 2 billion bushels of corn and sorghum. Opening the door to that opportunity now would provide a badly needed shot in the arm for farming communities across the Heartland, while also helping consumers save an additional 10 to 30 cents per gallon at the pump.”
RFA said the following policy and deregulatory actions are needed to help avert an economic crisis in the farm economy.
Congress should pass the Nationwide Fuel Retailer and Consumer Choice Act, which would allow E15 to be sold year-round, nationwide without the need for ad hoc emergency waivers.
Congress should adopt the Ethanol for America Act, which would streamline regulatory requirements related to E15 pump labeling and equipment compatibility.
Congress and the Administration should eliminate century-old “denaturant” requirements, which obligate ethanol producers to poison their clean, renewable fuel with dirty, toxic substances. These requirements create challenges for using ethanol to make renewable jet fuel, and they ultimately reduce demand for corn by displacing ethanol with low-quality hydrocarbon “denaturants.”
The Administration should finalize strong RFS volumes, limit small refinery exemptions, and reallocate any exempted volumes. Once finalized, the 2026 and 2027 RFS volumes proposed by EPA will help boost demand for U.S. farmers. But those gains can only be realized if the volume requirements are not destabilized with unrestored SREs. Notably, the last time corn prices were this low and the corn surplus was this high was in 2018/19, when the massive issuance of SREs destroyed demand for ethanol, biomass-based diesel, corn, and soybeans.
“Congress and the Administration can take these simple steps to strengthen America’s agriculture sector and stave off an impending crisis in farm country,” Cooper said. “We urge our nation’s leaders to act quickly to open new market opportunities for America’s farmers by removing barriers to increased ethanol consumption.”
USDA is forecasting that direct government payments to farmers will hit $42.4 billion in 2025, more than quadruple the 2024 level and the second-highest ever (trailing only the $45.6 billion distributed in 2020, when the COVID pandemic cratered global demand for farm products). According to RFA, opening new market opportunities for corn and ethanol—like year-round E15—would restore demand-driven dynamics in the grain market and significantly reduce the need for government assistance.
