To the editor:

While America’s farmers are facing challenges maintaining America’s food supply chain, oil refiners are busy in Washington looking to turn the economic crisis to their advantage.

The refiners are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to either eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard for the year or roll back the agreement on targets that President Trump himself brokered last year. It’s a sneak attack on America’s farmers that would undercut important agricultural markets at the worst possible time.

The COVID-19 crisis is already causing a painful ripple effect throughout America’s agricultural economy. Closures of meat packing plants will hurt livestock producers. A reduction in herds, in turn, will undercut demand for soybeans and other crops grown for animal feed, further undercutting farm incomes. As a consequence, biodiesel and renewable diesel producers could run short of the surplus crop oil and animal fats they convert to valuable, clean fuels. With lower biodiesel production, farmers and livestock producers will lose even more value for their products.

America’s farmers shouldn’t have to take even more damage from the refineries’ attack.

Biodiesel and renewable diesel producers are an important part of the nation’s critical agriculture infrastructure and food supply chain. Maintaining a strong RFS will be important to the entire nation’s economic recovery. President Trump should direct the EPA to immediately reject every one of these oil industry attacks on U.S. farmers.

Randy Souder

Rockwell City