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EPA waivers to oil refineries elicit anger from Minnesota corn farmer

A Minnesota farmer is angry about RFS waivers handed out by the EPA.

Chad Willis grows corn and soybeans near Willmar.

“It makes me feel mad. It was a mechanism written into the RFS to help move our ethanol into the petroleum market, and now with the EPA granting those waivers we’ve lost well over one billion gallons of market potential for our ethanol here in the U.S.”

He tells Brownfield the drop in domestic use makes ethanol exports much more important.

“You look at these markets and the amount of corn we have in the country, we need to grind it. And right now ethanol is that mechanism.”

Willis is confident the EPA will finalize the rule allowing for year-round E15 by June first.  He says outdated Reid Vapor Pressure regulations have caused confusion at the pump, hurting consumers and corn farmers.