October 11, 2011
By Gale Lush, Chairman

OAK BROOK, Ill. (RuralWire) – October 11, 2011 – “Corn farmers shared our positive ethanol message last week with the Illinois Food Retailers Association (IFRA) members at their annual conference in Oak Brook, Ill. It was a great opportunity,’ said Gale Lush, American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) Chairman, and corn farmer from Wilcox, Neb. “Our ACGF informational exhibit and booth offered a wealth of pro-ethanol and pro-wind energy materials as well as the Farmer’s Share of the Food Dollar USDA information,” said Lush.

ACGF project director Dan McGuire attended the conference and met with IFRA leaders. McGuire promoted the importance of ethanol as a major benefit to food retailers, noting that when consumers pay less for gasoline it clearly makes more disposable income available for purchasing food and other consumer-oriented products. “Ethanol has a $4 billion positive direct economic impact in Illinois each year and generates over 1,000 full time jobs in that state. Nationally, ethanol supports over 400,000 jobs and the U.S. economy,” said McGuire.

“This is a pretty straightforward issue. Iowa State University has done the study and it shows that Midwest consumers would be paying about $1.37 per gallon more for gasoline if ethanol were not in the U.S. fuel supply pipeline. U.S. consumers save about $120 billion dollars annually compared to what they would otherwise be paying for gasoline if ethanol were not in the fuel supply at the gas station. Members of Congress and the Administration need to quit attacking ethanol and acknowledge the benefits that ethanol provides to the everyday, average American consumer. That economic benefit shows up directly when consumers buy gasoline at the pump and it frees up more money for them to buy food and products at retail food stores,” said McGuire.

“Big oil money may have lobbying power in Washington, DC, but American consumers have voting power. They want renewable ethanol and wind energy to get greater federal incentive funding, not cuts. The Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS) for ethanol must be supported and continued by Congress. Same goes for the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. Both of these renewable energy incentives are essential for new U.S. economic growth, energy security, the creation of manufacturing jobs and new infrastructure. Ethanol and wind energy are a big, positive economic deal for the United States. They are supported by American taxpayers and consumers. Americans are not ‘asleep at the switch’ on this issue. They want more renewable energy and they want Congress to get busy and make that happen. Americans don’t want Congress gutting renewable energy incentives while protecting and continuing the much more expensive oil and fossil fuel subsidies. If Congress wants to cut energy subsidies they should start with oil. Americans want new jobs created right here in the USA. Robust ethanol and wind energy incentives and federal policies are job creation superstars,” said Lush.

Photos above used at ACGF IFRA exhibit: Left photo shows 2011 Yellow Field Corn from Wilcox, Neb., corn farm of ACGF Chairman Gale Lush; Right photo shows the difference side-by-side of (left) consumer sweet corn and (right) livestock field corn.