Agricultural News
TSCRA Denounces EPA Denial of RFS Waivers
Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:59:22 CST
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today denied the request by U.S. ranchers, including the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), to waive the current Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The request for a waiver was made in light of corn shortages and soaring feed costs across the country.
"It's truly unbelievable that a government agency would ignore the fact that we are facing a dire corn shortage in this country," said Joe Parker Jr., rancher and TSCRA president. "By continuing to mandate that 40 percent of the very small U.S. corn crop go directly toward ethanol production, the government is escalating an already dire situation by bolstering an artificial market that will further push some ranching families out of business."
Parker says that as long as corn supplies continue to tighten across the U.S., the current RFS standard will only compound the situation by reducing the already extremely limited amount of corn available for feed. This situation is particularly severe in Texas, the leading cattle producing state in the nation.
"The EPA had an opportunity to show their support, in some regard, of the U.S. cattle industry," continued Parker. "Instead, they continue to put our food and fuel in competition with one another by giving one commodity a leg-up at the expense of another. Chalk this up to another instance in a long line of examples that demonstrates that the government, particularly the EPA, does not support the cattle industry or the free market."
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