Two key ethanol subsidies will end at the end of the month

The lawmakers in the US Senate have reached a deal that will end two key ethanol subsidies by the end of the month, this has come about sooner than expected. The deal is significant because the Minnesota and South Dakota lawmakers are ethanol supporters who have been trying to find a way to keep federal support for ethanol alive even while acknowledging that subsidies must be pared back.

This is a major boost for Brazil as the Brazilian ethanol industry has struggled to gain large scale access to the US market. Grain traders have been expecting the subsidies to end last year, but some were surprised at the quick timetable. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

The House of Representatives approve US$125.5 billion

The US House of Representatives have approved the agricultural spending bill of US$125.5 (€87.49 ) billion. The new bill stops millions of dollars payments to Brazil and effectively bars the US government from invest in future ethanol blender pumps.

The bill has been severely criticised by the Obama administration for underfunding the efforts to beef up food safety initiatives. There is fear that by stopping payments to Brazil it could spark a trade war. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Ethanol subsidy up for another cut?

It was like dodging a bullet Tuesday when the amendment offered by Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla, failed. That amendment would have ended the blender credit for ethanol and the import tariff on the biofuel. However, procedural wrangling and even talk that ending a tax credit was a tax increase muddied the waters.

Neither issue may be a problem as the next amendments come for a vote. The Senate has before it two amendments. The first, according to The Hill is from Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which is nearly identical to Coburn's, but doesn't have the baggage of the first attempt. Right after that, the Senate would also vote on an amendment from Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., that would block use of federal funds for the construction of ethanol blender pumps or other infrastructure. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Chicken breeders face Senate tax-cut hawks

A vote in the US Senate today is pitting corn growers against chicken farmers, anti-tax purists against anti-spending advocates, and Democrats and Republicans against members of their own parties. Senator Tom Coburn’s attempt to eliminate tax breaks and tariffs that benefit the ethanol industry will place his colleagues in the middle of a political fight over corn-based energy that has fermented for years.

Coburn is bringing another quarrel to a boil his feud with Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington group that has persuaded 40 of 47 Republican senators to sign its no-tax-increase pledge. Read more ...

 This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Ethanol critics forcing votes on subsidies

The ethanol industry faces a pair of critical test votes in the Senate. Sen Tom Coburn, R-Okla, has forced a vote next Tuesday on ending the industry’s 45 cent per gallon subsidy, and Sen John McCain, R-Ariz, is proposing to bar the Obama administration from funding the installation of ethanol pumps at rural service stations.

“Eliminating the ethanol tax earmark and tariff would be an important step toward tackling our unsustainable debt and deficits,” said Coburn spokesman John Hart. The 45-cent subsidy already due to expire at the end of the year. Even if Coburn’s amendment doesn’t become law, it will put senators on record on the issue. Sen Chuck Grassley, R-Ia., has proposed an industry-backed plan to extend the subsidy beyond this year but slash the rate and eventually eliminate it entirely unless oil prices fall. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers