Iowans speak up for soybean industry at biofuels hearing

When representatives of the soybean business traveled to Kansas City for an EPA hearing last week, they weren’t just thinking about their livelihoods in 2016 and 2017.

They were looking beyond those years as well.

Grant Kimberley of the Iowa Soybean Association joined American Soybean Association board member Bob Henry and hundreds of farmers and other supporters of high renewable fuel standard supporters at the hearing. Soybean and corn industry advocates are among many who would like to see the EPA go with much stronger RFS target numbers that will help determine the need for certain crops in the years ahead.

Kimberley is the director of market development for the ISA and and is also executive director for the Iowa Biodiesel Board.

“Agriculture accounts for more than one-third of Iowa’s economic output,” Kimberley told the EPA in his testimony. “If you give farmers the chance to produce, we will always rise to the occasion.”

Henry, a Kansas farmer, told the EPA exactly what target numbers the ASA would like to see, and is confident soybean biodiesel production will help easily exceed the goals, and help compete with developing foreign producers.

Henry called for much higher goals that the EPA’s proposed targets of 1.8 and 1.9 billion gallos for 2016 and 2017, respectively.

“We see no reason why EPA should not, at a minimum, support biomass-based diesel volumes of at least 2 billion gallons for 2016 and 2.3 billion gallons for 2017,” Henry said. “Increasing the biomass-based diesel volumes relative to the total advanced biofuels volumes will promote the use of biodiesel over imported Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol; the EPA has approved a streamlined process for Argentine biodiesel to comply with the RFS and we expect Argentine imports into the U.S. to increase significantly in 2015 and future years.”

Kimberley said he asked the EPA to raise the target volume obligation for 2016 to be between 2.0 to 2.4 and between 2.3 and 2.7 in 2017. He said the indusry will stall or “flatline” if the 1.8 and 1.9 billion goals are left in place, as the industry is already producing that much biofuel.

Some soybeans are used to produce partially hydrogenated oil for frying food. Since the FDA recently banned partially hydrogenated oil, a higher RFS would instantly provide a new destination for millions of pounds of soybeans.

“That’s another reason it’s important to raise the standard, as a lot of beans and their oil will have no place to go,” Kimberley said.

Kimberley said government standards that require certain amounts of production spur on the industry to find more ways to safely, cleanly produce more crops each year.

“Biofuel actually enhances food supply, because we’re having to innovate to produce more soybeans, and, in turn, more protein,” Kimberley said. “Agriculture plays a huge role in both food security and energy security. I wanted to convey why that’s important — Not only to the country, but also to agriculture in Iowa.”