The EPA's assault on rural America and its farmers

Dear EPA: It's me, the American farmer. Can you hear me?

There's an old saying about not kicking someone when they are down, but it sure feels like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency didn't get the memo. For those of us involved in farming, the most recent kick to the shin involves our ability to produce soybeans and other crops to meet demand for food, fuel and fiber. The EPA is pushing to tamp down the use of better, cleaner biodiesel and renewable diesel at a time when nearly every industry that transports something is asking for more of them.

It's an odd turn of events. Just last year, the EPA signaled that the rule for the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) was a "jumping off" point, promising an upward trajectory for biomass-based diesel (biodiesel and renewable diesel). Farmers like me and the clean fuels industry responded with a half-billion-gallon production increase last year, and our producers are positioned to achieve similar growth this year, next year and beyond. In fact, the investments being made throughout the country -- and especially here in the Heartland -- are poised to double fuel volumes to six billion gallons over the next few years.

Yet the EPA's actual proposed RFS rule for the next three years, released in December, allows next to no growth for biomass-based diesel, putting millions of dollars of investment, job creation and economic development at risk in rural communities in multiple states. There are nearly 20 soybean processing projects in the Midwest planning to expand or build new facilities. One of them is right here in Missouri's bootheel, a 62-million-bushel soybean crushing facility announced by Cargill, creating 45 permanent jobs by 2026. It's a significant investment for our region, but what will happen if the EPA is throwing cold water on the RFS?

And what makes matters more insulting is that the EPA is hurting American farmers and rural communities -- as well as the environment it is supposed to protect -- to help multinational food companies. These companies are putting on a full-court press to convince the Biden Administration that American farmers are the cause of food inflation -- and deflect attention from their massive profits. A recent article in The Hill quotes CEOs from several global food companies basically bragging to investors that they have raised prices far higher than needed to offset the costs of ingredients to increase corporate profits.

The evidence shows how wrong the food companies' argument is: A Purdue University study found that higher soybean oil values have minimal impact on prices for food products. In fact, a strong biomass-based diesel market improves our food supply. When we add value for soybean oil, the price of soy meal comes down, which helps our protein supply, including the pigs and chickens that eat it.

American farmers and clean fuels producers are an important part of the equation as we work to address climate change. Using biodiesel and renewable diesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% on average compared with fossil fuels.

Beyond the environmental benefits of clean fuels, this industry creates thousands of jobs and economic development, much of it in America's small towns and rural communities. Case in point, the U.S. biodiesel market contributed 75,200 jobs and $3.6 billion in wages for American farmers and workers in 2021. Our home state of Missouri ranks third in biodiesel production, which supports more than 5,000 jobs and adds nearly $500 million to the value of our soybean crop. As capacity and production grows, these economic benefits will continue to increase -- unless the EPA fails to acknowledge and support it.

Thankfully, Congressman Jason Smith and nearly every other member of the Missouri House delegation understand the critical role the RFS plays in promoting American agriculture, supporting investment in Southeast Missouri and throughout rural America, and providing farmers with a growing market in which to sell our products. Recently, he joined dozens of House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, urging him to change its stance against rural America and our farmers. Let's hope the EPA will stop kicking us and do the right thing.

Justin Rone raises soybeans with his wife and family in Pemiscot County, Missouri.