Including Ethanol Language in Funding Bill Would Save Family Farms

 Decisions are being made in Congress this week that could be some of the most consequential for corn growers in decades.

That’s because corn farmers, facing a fourth consecutive year of negative returns, are hoping Congress will include language in the pending government funding bill that would allow consumers across the country to access fuels with a 15% corn ethanol blend, often referred to as E15. Such a development would help struggling growers economically.

Yet, despite wide support from Congress and from the White House, it looks as though growers’ hopes could be dashed once again thanks to the current politically polarized environment.

It’s not that the idea of expanding access to E15 is radioactive; it’s more about fears among Congress that advancing anything beyond a clean funding bill could end in another government shutdown.

But that is short-sighted thinking. Unlike other legislative riders, expanding access to E15 –with its environmental and economic benefits – would make the funding bill more attractive to a cross-section of Congress.

Need examples?

Any politician wanting to win in the 2026 midterms has got to understand the benefits of saving consumers money at the gas pump thanks to higher blends of ethanol in fuel. It would certainly check the affordability box!

Moreover, members of Congress who want to address some of the nation’s environmental challenges have got to appreciate the fact that selling E15 year-round lowers the nation’s carbon footprint.

And those who care about feeding and fueling America, presumably every member of Congress, has got to love that fact that expanding access to higher blends of ethanol will be helping America’s farmers and rural communities during a very hard economic time.

The nation’s corn growers are facing a once-in-a-generation economic crisis, and these types of economic and financial hardships are never contained to the farm. When farmers are struggling financially, they spend less in their communities, causing local establishments to falter or shut down entirely with implications for the larger economy.

Such a bleak economic outlook is not a foregone conclusion. Congress can act this week to begin to head off such misfortunes by using the funding bill as a vehicle to allow for the year-round sale of E15.
 
We are running out of time, and the stakes are sky high. There is a lot to lose, not the least of which is economic survival for rural America.

Jed Bower, an Ohio farmer, is president of the National Corn Growers Association.

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2026/01/22/including_ethanol_language_in_funding_bill_would_save_family_farms_1160336.html