With each new report on the deteriorating condition of the U.S. corn crop, the pressure mounts for EPA and/or Congress to make changes to the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The executive director of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Kristina Butts, says the next USDA crop report—on August 10th—could be the trigger that makes something happen.
“We’ve had several members of Congress reach out to us—and a lot of people are also talking about the quality of the corn crop,” Butts says. “So I think a lot of us are looking for that August 10th report to better assess what the situation looks like.
“There’s a lot of talk going on in D.C., not to necessarily do away with the mandate, but to find some way to where the mandate can be adjusted—or adjusted down—looking at the corn situation.”
Butts says the EPA has the power to waive the mandate. She says NCBA is encouraging the agency to stay on top of the corn supply situation and be ready to take action if necessary.
Butts made those comments in an interview with Brownfield at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver.
AUDIO: Kristina Butts (3:53 MP3)
Latest: 
I just listened to comments by NCBA exec. dir. Kristina Butts and am now confused and baffled by her statements. At one point she states that the RFS is mandating corn usage which is baffling to me. Since when, as I understand the RFS it allows up to so many gallons of ethanol to come from corn not that it has to. RFS allows the oxygenate additive which is ethanol to come from any source; currently corn is the cheapest and easiest. Then later she comments about DDGS and short supplies contradicting her call for reduced corn usage which really confuses me. I am trying to stretch my feed supplies for my cattle by utilizing lower quality roughage and adding back protein with DDGS and am now having trouble getting DDGS because corn ethanol producers have already cut back production and she states that due to a short corn crop my feed supply should be cut back further. Feeding whole corn raises my ration costs still higher and I still have a protein shortage if I don’t want to fatten my brood cows. I could use soymeal I guess but what are the poultry and pork guys to do if I take it away from them. Just can’t understand the logic being presented here. Politics and the price of corn aren’t the problem or the solution.
By the way as an observation, does reducing the RFS mean that smog is OK after all.