Iowa Ag Group Supports Reintroduction of 2021 Biofuel Bill

In case you don’t remember this bill that didn’t make it through legislation last year, Governor Kim Reynolds introduced a mandate that would require all gasoline sold in Iowa to contain at least 15 percent ethanol by 2025. This mandate would also make it so diesel would also have increased levels of biodiesel. While this bill cleared some hurdles in the legislature, it never saw the floor.

With a version of the mandate making, it back to the session this year, Brent Johnson, president of Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa’s largest agriculture organization is urging state lawmakers to reconsider the mandate on the use of Iowa-produced renewable fuel. In a story by WNAX, Johnson said

To implement a biofuel-ethanol standard within Iowa is certainly something that we supported last year to make sure that Iowa's fuel sources do contain Iowa-grown products, both on the gasoline side as well as the biodiesel side.

Johnson says they have more work to gain the support to get the mandate passed. He is also urging the EPA to uphold Renewable Fuels Standards Renewable Volume Obligation levels especially after reports of the Biden administration possibly dropping blending levels below 15-billion gallons.

That's been eroded over the last few years. We need to make sure that we hold that together so that our producers understand that the market is there and solid and willing to move forward.

Farm Bureau is a supporter of Governor Reynolds’ move to ask the EPA to provide a waiver to sell E-15 in Iowa year-round.