Y101.3 FM Sioux City

The CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association says he’s glad to see EPA issue the emergency waiver for E15, but he’d like to see permanent year-round E15 sales. Geoff Cooper tells Brownfield there’s bipartisan support for a bill in the U.S. Senate that would make that possible. “Senate Bill 2707, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, was introduced earlier this year by Senators Deb Fischer from Nebraska, Shelley Capito from West Virginia, Tammy Duckworth from Illinois and Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin.” Cooper says the bill would also eliminate the need for individual states to petition for year-round E15 and he’s expecting a companion bill to be introduced in the House soon. ...     

An ethanol producer says the EPA’s summertime waiver allowing the sale of E15 fuel is very welcome, but knowing sooner would have been better for the fuels industry and consumers. Erik Huschitt from Badger State Ethanol tells Brownfield a lot of preparation happens in the supply chain ahead of the June 1st deadline. “We’re approaching a May time frame and we’re needing to make plans on what are we going to be selling at these pumps and what are we going to have to have for labels, and what are we going to have for signage?” Huschitt says EPA’s lack of action before Friday’s summertime waiver had producers and retailers wondering if they invested in infrastructure they couldn’t use to sell E15. ...     

Direct cash cattle trade is finally developing.  There’s light business across all parts of cattle country.  Deals in Nebraska are marked at $292 dressed, $2 below the previous week’s weighted average basis in Nebraska.  Live deals in the South are at $182, steady with the previous week’s weighted averages. Asking prices are firm around $184 to $185 live in the South and $295-plus dressed in the North.  Look for more business to develop before the end of the day.  ...     

A rice extension educator says the shift to earlier planted soybeans has impacted how rice and other crops are managed in Arkansas. Jarrod Hardke with the University of Arkansas says it narrows the planting window for all crops and can make weed control a challenge. “They’re very quickly up next to each other, emerged and just planted,” he says. “It’s starting to make it much more difficult to keep entire fields clean and minimize the impact on your own field, side-by-side, as well as potentially your neighbors.” He tells Brownfield that earlier-planted soybeans don’t typically cause problems later in the growing season for crops like rice, but if drought sets in early – it can. ...