Nebraska Cattlemen is disappointed by EPA’s decision yesterday not to grant a partial waiver from the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) mandate. In June, Nebraska Cattlemen sent comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator asking that the annual renewable fuels mandate (RFS) within the Clean Air Act be reduced to 4.5 billion gallons.

With the ethanol mandate increasing from nine billion gallons in 2008 to 11.1 billion gallons in 2009, corn price volatility and cow-calf and cattle feeding losses are expected to increase.

Nebraska Cattlemen policy supports a fair market rather than a government created market, said NC President Larry Smith.

The chief cause of extreme cattle feeding losses is the recent volatile increases in grain prices, specifically corn, Smith said. Corn is the primary cost input in cattle feeding operations along with the cost of the calf. Competition for corn has become more intense and volatile caused by many factors, one of which is the RFS. As more and more of the nation’s crop is committed to ethanol through the government’s mandated RFS, cattle producers will continue to see the adverse affects of unfair competition for corn, he said.

“We have been and are supportive of ethanol production, but the support requires a fair market and we will continue to work for that,” Smith said.

The Nebraska Cattlemen association serves as the representative for the state’s beef cattle industry and represents professional cattle breeders, ranchers and feeders, as well as 48 county and local cattlemen’s associations. Its headquarters are in Lincoln and a second office in Alliance serves cattlemen in western Nebraska. This and other Nebraska Cattlemen information is available at www.nebraskacattlemen.org.