Bolz Calls For Federal Aid To Ethanol Industry

NEBRASKA CITY  — A Nebraska state senator and candidate for Congress is calling for federal aid to bolster farmers and the sagging ethanol industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

A sharp decline in gasoline prices is impacting the ethanol industry and leading to temporary plant closures in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

Two of Kansas' ethanol plants are idle and nine others have cut production by at least 40 percent, according to an Associated Press report.

Gas prices were declining before the coronavirus spread, but prices fell more than 50 percent after the pandemic started. That caused prices for ethanol, which makes up 10 percent of much of the fuel in the U.S., to plunge.

Kate Bolz, a Nebraska state senator and candidate for Congress, said Nebraska’s ethanol industry is also in jeopardy. She called on her congressional opponent, US House incumbent Jeff Fortenberry, to seek federal financial aid.

Bolz: “I call on Congressman Fortenberry to act quickly to support our ethanol industry, both the biofuel workers and the farmers who supply grain to the plants.

“As the second largest ethanol producer in the nation and the largest west of the Missouri River, Nebraska must do everything possible to protect this important industry. With last year’s flooding, disastrous trade policies and now a catastrophic pandemic, Nebraska farmers need our help now more than ever.”

ADM announced two weeks ago it is temporarily closing its ethanol plant at Columbus, Neb.

Bolz said furloughed biofuel workers and farmers must have the same considerations as the oil and gas industry.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.