Contact: Emma Koehler
515-252-6249

WEST DES MOINES, IA – This evening U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins delivered the keynote address at the Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner in Ankeny, Iowa where she said she believes E15 plays a key part in President Trump’s vision of unleashing American energy. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw made the following statement:

“E15 is the only untapped, near-term market opportunity for American farmers and producers large enough to make a meaningful difference to today’s low prices. Nationwide year-round E15 would unlock a 7-billion gallon per year market opportunity for ethanol, thereby advancing President Trump’s vision of American energy dominance. Further, the production would require more than 2-billion bushels of corn, thereby boosting demand at a critical time for American farmers.

“IRFA members thank Sec. Rollins for seeing first-hand the value of biofuels while visiting Elite Octane today, an ethanol plant in Atlantic, Iowa. We also thank her for recognizing the value in HBIIP funding, as she announced today USDA would release $537 million in funding for 543 projects in 29 states. IRFA looks forward to working with Sec. Rollins to continue building this momentum and working to put farmers first by expanding access to homegrown biofuels.”

A video of partial remarks from Sec. Rollins tonight can be found here.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing 4.7 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 10 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 416 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.

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