Squeal! Pig farmers call for hearing on impact of RFS

In Washington, D.C., a coalition of U.S. livestock and poultry industry associations is requesting a hearing to discuss the Renewable Fuel Standard’s impact on the economy. The groups cited ongoing pressure on domestic feed grain supplies and a discovery of $9 million of fraudulent renewable identification numbers as justifications for a hearing in a letter sent to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The letter notes that a 2011 National Academy of Sciences study found that since 2007, the diversion of portions of the corn crop to ethanol production has been a contributing factor to the increased strain on livestock and poultry producers. While other factors play a role, the RFS mandate is the sole area the U.S. government can control, the groups said. Groups that signed the letter include the American Meat Institute, the National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Meat Association and the National Turkey Federation.

The Renewable Fuels Association sent its own letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chairmen in response to the coalition’s request for the hearing. The RFA letter claims that findings from two recent papers on American biofuels and American biofuels policy were misrepresented — one from the National Academies of Science (NAS) and one from United Nations Committee on Food Security (CFS).