The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule for calculating the renewable fuel volumes in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) amounts to a “broken promise to farmers,” an Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) representative said last week during a hearing about the agency’s proposal.

Instead of keeping its earlier promise to restore the integrity of the RFS and ensure that 15 billion gallons of ethanol are blended each year, the EPA proposal simply adds more uncertainty for the struggling agriculture economy, Daniel Heady, IFBF national policy advisor, said during a hearing on the proposal held in Michigan.

“Farmers were pleased by the announcement that...