Farmers highlighted E15, local food purchasing and tax credits for cotton at a U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee hearing focusing on how to boost domestic markets. Senators said they recognize the financial straits facing farmers due to input prices that continue to rise because of the war in the Middle East.
Farmers are seeing major price spikes when they call fertilizer suppliers. The American Farm Bureau Federation is calling on President Trump to protect fertilizer shipments. The war in Iran and the broader Middle East is hitting just as farmers begin spring planting, and now prices for fuel and fertilizers are rising, with shipping disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz.
At the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on Thursday, E15 was the main topic of the day, though carbon pipelines also had their moment, along with the 45Z tax credit and the unrealized prospects of both maritime and sustainable aviation fuels.