Grassley: Too early to change biofuel policies

DesMoinesRegister.com
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com • June 17, 2008

Washington, D.C. — Sen. Charles Grassley says it’s too early in the year to consider rolling back biofuels incentives to soften the economic impact of high crop prices.

“You’re going to have this nervousness all through the summer, and you shouldn’t make any decisions like this until you know what the crop is at the end of the harvest season,” said the Iowa Republican.

Corn and soybean prices already were at historic highs before skyrocketing this month as flooding destroyed crops across Iowa and other Midwest states.

The first indication of the extent of the damage will come June 30, when the Agriculture Department releases its annual survey of what farmers have planted. USDA’s first survey-based forecast of the fall harvest will come in August.

Suspending tax credits for biofuels or temporarily waiving the ethanol usage mandate would discourage investment in the industry, he said.

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