WHEAT HARVEST in Illinois this summer is not expected to be a long, drawn out affair. Wheat acres in the state are at a record low. ......8
JUNE IS DAIRY MONTH, o r i g i n a l l y d e s i g n a t e d a s s u ch because it was the time of year that surplus milk needed to be sold. ....9
CENTRAL ILLINOIS farmers John and Sue Adams will be getting a lot of face time in the D.C. area starting Tuesday. ........10
Monday, May 31, 2010
Two sections Volume 38, No. 22
RFS2 expectations push biodiesel credit urgency
WINDING DOWN
BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
Bryan Crump, son of Crump Family Gardens owners Bob and Joann Crump of rural Carlock in McLean County, picks the last of what was described as an above average crop of strawberries. The farm, in operation for 45 years, grows a variety of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, and sells firewood. The produce is sold at their farm and at five local farmers’ markets. The Southern Illinois strawberry crop was reported to be well above average this year. Additional photos appear at {www.ilfb.org}. (Photo By Ken Kashian)
The Senate left D.C. last week without reinstating a crucial biodiesel market incentive, and industry interests noted the clock is rapidly running down toward a key July deadline. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) last week suspended consideration of a comprehensive tax extenders package until after the Memorial Day recess. Meanwhile, the House passed the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act,” the measure that includes the biodiesel credit extension. The credit expired Jan. 1, resulting in some 40-50 plants being idled nationwide, according to National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Washington representative Michael Frohlich. Frohlich saw House debate of the controversial extenders measure alone as “clearly a positive development” toward retroactive reinstatement of the $1-per-gallon credit. Reid said he intends to prioritize extenders debate following the holiday recess. Alicia Clancy, spokesman with
Renewable Energy Group (REG), stressed the need for timely action upon the Senate’s June 6 return, given new renewable fuels standard (RFS2) requirements set to kick in July 1. Because of slower-thanexpected biofuels industry growth related in part to the economic downturn, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) combined 2009 and 2010 fuel industry biodiesel blending requirements into 2010 targets. As a result, major petroleum companies and other “obligated parties” are expected to commit to 1.15 billion gallons of annual biodiesel use by year’s end. “The indications from the Senate are that if the bill is not paid for (through other taxes or spending cuts), they’re (senators) going to want to do some work on it,” Clancy told FarmWeek. “Renewable Energy Group is in the biodiesel business, and we urge our senators to act as quickly as possible on whatever vehicle they need to get the biodiesel tax credit passed. “The $1-per-gallon biodiesel
tax credit is supported by Republicans, by Democrats, by senators, by House members. It’s not the biodiesel tax credit that is creating any sort of issue — it is the package in which it is sitting that has created the six-month delay.” REG recently completed its formal consolidation with Danville’s Blackhawk Biofuels, which should help spread the plant’s risks across the larger company’s production network. REG announced recently it was acquiring an additional 60- million-gallon-per-year biodiesel facility in Seneca, on the LaSalle-Grundy County line. Clancy noted Illinois “has the best biodiesel incentive program anywhere in the nation,” a tax exemption for 11 percent biodiesel blends. Thus, Blackhawk has avoided layoffs suffered elsewhere. The plant’s ability to sustain long-term operations is largely “a matter of risk management” and blenders’ confidence “their dollar will be reinstated,” she said. “In terms of industry survival and preventing irrepara See RFS2, page 4
Lawmakers pass budget, offer no solutions Periodicals: Time Valued
BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
Illinois’ financial drama now enters the second act, and Gov. Pat Quinn is in the spotlight. The General Assembly last week passed a budget that doesn’t address how the state will make a $4.2-billion payment to the state employee pension fund. But legislators gave Quinn a double-edged sword with broad powers to make budget cuts and no direction on where the cuts should be made or how deep they should be. “It is probably more accu-
FarmWeekNow.com Visit FarmWeekNow.com to learn how IFB legislative priorities fared at the Capitol this spring.
rate to say that the General Assembly has approved a spending plan vs. a budget,” said Kevin Semlow, Illinois Farm Bureau director of state legislation. The state’s new fiscal year starts July 1. Legislators approved a lump-sum budget with each agency, board, commission, and program receiving a general appropriation rather than
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specific funding levels for various expenses, Semlow explained. In the budget, the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is scheduled to receive a lump sum of $21.922 million for the agency’s general employee costs and additional funds for specific operations. However, the lump-sum payment means the governor’s office must determine which programs to fund or to cut, Semlow noted. IDOA also is to receive another lump-sum payment of $9.337 million for non-agency programs — such as Soil and
Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) and county fairs — whose funding comes through IDOA’s budget. However, the budgeted amount was less than the total funding requested by each of the programs. Again, the governor’s office will need to determine which of the non-agency programs will be funded and which will be cut, Semlow said. For the first time, the budget did not stipulate any amount for Cook County Extension, and some state See Budget, page 3
Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org