Senate Releases Draft Farm Bill with Year-Round E15 Sales

The Senate Agriculture Committee has released its draft of the new farm bill, which includes provisions to authorize year-round sales of E15 blended fuel and increase investments in specialty crops. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) welcomes this step towards advancing long-delayed legislation affecting U.S. agriculture.

According to AFBF President Zippy Duvall, the nation has lost 200,000 farms over the past decade, and a modernized farm bill would help stabilize the struggling farm economy. He praised Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman for releasing the legislation and expressed optimism that lawmakers can build bipartisan support to move the bill through Congress.

However, environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth (FOE) is urging senators to reject the proposal, arguing it favors large-scale commodity agriculture while doing too little to support nutrition programs, conservation efforts, and smaller farms. FOE objects to a provision allowing year-round sales of E15 gasoline, saying expanded ethanol production would increase demand for corn and encourage more pesticide-intensive farming practices.