Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Quick hits: Trump biofuel policy not as favorable to ethanol as he indicated; Dean Foods vs. plant-based products

Politico's Morning Agriculture has three items of particular interest today:

The Dakotas are expecting about a foot of snow starting tomorrow, and Minnesota and Nebraska could get some as well. The cold weather and snow could kill some crops that are still maturing or being harvested. Corn, wheat and other crops are particularly vulnerable to such weather because they were planted late, owing to the record wet weather this spring, Ryan McCrimmon notes.

Dean Foods, one of the largest dairy processors in the U.S., is leaving the International Dairy Foods Association, "faulting the industry group for not taking a firm stance against plant-based products using traditional dairy terms like 'milk' or 'butter' in their labeling, a Dean Foods spokesperson told MA," McCrimmon reports. "Dean Foods said it will divert its advocacy efforts to focus on the product labeling fight, which the company called 'one of our core priorities.'"

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler sought to clarify the administration's recently announced biofuels policy. "Donald Trump left some in the oil and agriculture industries scratching their heads when he proclaimed on Monday that the EPA will direct refiners to blend 16 billion gallons of ethanol in 2020," McCrimmon reports. "Wheeler has since offered some clarification during an interview on a North Dakota radio station: The agency will set the mandate at 15 billion gallons after taking into account its blending exemptions for small refiners."

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