United States Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will be visiting Iowa tomorrow to survey the damage caused by the derecho windstorm and the drought that has impacted nearly every corner of the state. He will also be here to talk about conservation programs and their impacts and benefits for the farmers across the Midwest.
However, before he arrives, one Iowa lawmaker has repeated the call for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to find ways to assist the floundering biofuels industry.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley made his comments on Tuesday. He said that farmers he has talked to on almost every one of his 99-county tour meetings have expressed their concerns over how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is handling the biofuels situation. Speaking on the ?gap-year? waivers, Grassley said that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has 90 days to make a decision on how to proceed. Grassley says that Wheeler has told him that if the waivers were even warranted, he may not be able to grant them.
Earlier this week, Secretary Perdue told a conference of the State Departments of Agriculture that he will not provide any aid to the biofuels industry unless directed to by Congress.
Senator Grassley argued that Perdue does have the authority to help the industry. If there is a challenge to this decision, that?s when Congress can step in and determine what is allowed and what is not. Grassley said that things like this have been done before, and the Secretary hasn?t gotten into any kind of trouble with Congress.
Secretary Perdue will be making three stops during his trip to Iowa on Thursday. Then he will be going to Nebraska on Friday.
