Illinois: Year-Round E15 Vital for Corn Farmers


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- The state of Illinois has urged Congressional leaders 
to pass legislation to permanently allow year-round sales of E15, the gasoline 
with 15% ethanol blend, citing Midwest farmers' need for long-term economic 
certainty.

   In a letter to the House of Representatives and Senate on Thursday (4/2), 
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker stressed that while the Trump administration's 
recent resolution allowing the E15 to be used as a summer fuel was welcome, 
that fix fell short of the stability required for the agricultural investments 
needed to produce adequate ethanol for the blend.

   "Illinois farmers need dependable, long-term policies they can count on, not 
short-term fixes,"  Jerry Costello II, director of the Illinois Department of 
Agriculture, said in a media release accompanying Pritzker's letter to 
Congress. "Making E15 available year-round would increase the demand for 
Illinois corn, keeping the nation's energy dollars in the Midwest and reducing 
our reliance on foreign oil.

   The push comes amid soaring gasoline prices at U.S. pumps brought about by 
global oil supply disruptions triggered by the war in Iran. Pump prices rose 
nearly $1 over the past month, leaving the national average at just below $4 
gallon by end-March.

   Allowing the 15% ethanol blend to be sold throughout the year -- instead of 
just the summer -- would broaden domestic U.S. sales of corn and also offset 
losses from shrinking export markets for the commodity.




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