In recent years, the United States farmer has faced prices below the cost of production, rising input costs, and inflation, creating challenges in achieving the goal of more ethanol demand, which translates into more corn demand. With new administration in the White House, Big River Resources CEO David Zimmerman shares how the messaging will change in helping the farmer:
“President Trump wants to help the U.S. farmer, so we are trying to help educate and help him understand and his team understand what we think is important that will help the U.S. farmer. First on that list is E15. We need to get E15 throughout the country. We have been fighting this battle for about ten years with the oil companies. There is just a statutory roadblock up, but if we can get E15 approved; today you are at about 10.4 percent ethanol in the gasoline pool, if you can take that to 15 percent over the next five years, that translates literally to a billion bushels of corn demand. That will move the needle for the farmer and that is what we need to see at this point. Obviously, that translates into more ethanol in the gas tank, that is a good thing we believe because energy security, American energy independence and dominance is one of the key things the Mr. Trump is looking at and we are saying ‘hey, Mr. President, we are here to help, and this is how we can do it.’”
Additionally, Zimmerman states carbon initiatives will also continue to be discussed under Trump’s Administration.