A National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) study examined the implications of enacting the renewable fuels standard (RFS) currently in congressional conference committee. The standard would increase ethanol use from nearly 2 billion gallons in 2002 to 5 billion gallons in 2012.
“An RFS would considerably raise farm income as well as boost economies in rural America,” says Tim Hume, NCGA president. “In turn, the U.S. government could reduce spending on agriculture programs and save taxpayers nearly 6% in monetary assistance for direct government payments to farmers.”
According to the study, increased demand for renewable fuels will result in total savings of $5.9 billion from lower direct government payments to farmers between 2003 and 2012. Further, a boost in demand for renewable fuels would increase net farm cash income by nearly $51 billion by 2012 over baseline levels.