There’s never a shortage of agriculture news. Here are a few policy stories you may have missed over the past week.

Push for summer E15 grows

Nearly 1,000 individuals, many from the ag and ethanol industries, signed a letter to President Biden calling for summer E15 sales this year. They hope he will issue an emergency waiver allowing sales as he has done the previous two years. In their letter, they note E15 is selling for 10 to 25 cents less than E10, potentially saving the average household up to $200 on their annual gas bill.

“With the 2024 summer driving season just a few months away, we are urging your administration to take additional action that will ensure consumers across the nation have uninterrupted access to lower-cost, lower-carbon E15,” the letter says. “Allowing gasoline blenders and retailers to sell E15 this summer would help moderate prices at the pump, extend fuel supplies, and deliver relief to American families at a time of year when gasoline prices typically are at their highest.”

This effort follows a March 26 letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan calling for the same thing. The letter was signed by the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union and National Sorghum Producers.

RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman recently published an analysis showing E15 sales topped 1.11 billion gallons in 2023, an 8% increase from 2022.  He credits the increase in large part to summer sales being allowed in conventional gasoline areas. Richman also cautions sales will “drop precipitously” if action is not taken within the next month.

Earlier this year, EPA published a new rule allowing summer E15 sales in eight midwestern states that petitioned the agency. That rule will not go into effect until next year.

New group defends glyphosate

A new group billing itself as the Modern Ag Alliance is pushing back against efforts to restrict glyphosate. Last week, it launched a campaign opposing additional restrictions and labeling requirements on glyphosate and other crop protection tools. Using the tagline “Control Weeds Not Farming,” the group cautions that states like California should not be allowed to regulate pesticides in a manner “inconsistent with federal law and congressional intent.”

The group also contends farmers need legislative certainty. It advocates policies to keep states from enacting rules that conflict with EPA’s scientific findings. It also wants all labeling to be consistent with EPA’s determinations.

Unsurprisingly, the coalition of more than 60 ag interest groups is lead by Bayer, one of the world’s largest glyphosate producers.

“We stand with these grower groups to support the need for legislative certainty for these science-based tools,” Jess Christiansen, Bayer head of crop science communications, says. “Farmers need these critical innovations now more than ever – and certainty to ensure the continued long-term availability of products like glyphosate.”

Missouri alternative meat labeling law upheld

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced his state recently prevailed in a lawsuit regarding its meat labeling laws.

In 2018, the Missouri General Assembly passed a law requiring producers to disclose if their products are plant-based or lab-made. The law prohibits them from misrepresenting their products as “any edible portion of livestock, poultry, or captive cervid carcass” if they are not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry.

In simple terms, that means those products may not be called “meat.” Alternative meat producers had argued the law was unconstitutional.

In its decision, the Court indicted it was sympathetic to some of the plaintiff’s arguments. However, it ultimately ruled the Missouri law was not unconstitutional.

“Ensuring that food sold within the state of Missouri is marketed correctly is of vital importance to both consumers and the farmers and ranchers that produce that food,” Bailey says. “I will continue to fight to defend the integrity of Missouri’s marketplace.”

New hope for community gardens

Reps. Shontel Brown, D- Ohio, Mike Carey, R- Ohio, and Stacey Plaskett, D- V.I., reintroduced legislation to support community gardens. Their bill, the Thriving Community Gardens Act, authorizes local education agencies to use Student Success and Academic Enrichment Grants to develop and operate community gardens. The bill also directs the Department of Education to gather information from agencies already operating community gardens to establish best practices.

Brown introduced similar legislation during the previous Congressional session.

“Community gardens are good for students, good for neighborhoods, and good for the planet – and we should help more schools develop them,” Brown says.

Miller-Meeks to chair Conservative Climate Caucus

Iowa Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks will chair the Conservative Climate Caucus. She replaces Rep. John Curits, R- Utah, who founded the group in 2021.

The Conservative Climate Caucus is a group of Republican lawmakers that purports to address climate issues through legislation and policies in-line with conservative values. Miller-Meeks says she and Republicans hope to focus more on ways to reduce emissions while also providing affordable energy. In a recent interview posted on her website, she says she supports reducing emissions through “the whole gamut of renewable” instead of “forcing mandates.”

Trump Airport? How about Trump Prison?

A group of Republican lawmakers recently introduced a House bill to rename Washington’s Dulles airport in honor of former President Trump. Not to be outdone, a group of House Democrats introduced legislation to rename a Florida federal prison the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution.

Both bills have little chance of passing. However, they have been introduced to the House, something that still can’t be said about a new farm bill.

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