Grassley: Any Legislation with Ad Hoc Payments to Farmers Should Include Year-Round, Nationwide E15

October 06, 2025

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(Office of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)) Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Senate President Pro Tempore, “The Agricultural Economy: Year-Round, Nationwide E15” -- So again, for the third time this week, I want to talk about the agricultural situation.

This week, I’ve been talking much about the dire situation in real America where corn farmers are facing the worst corn to fertilizer ratios in American history.

You may not have heard about those ratios. Probably, that’s something that’s been developed within the last two decades, but ... it’s the worst ever.

And I mention the real America because we that are serving here in Washington, D.C., work in an island surrounded by reality. And I want to make sure that the entire country knows what’s going on in fly-over country.

Last Congress, that would be in December of last year, [Congress] passed $10 billion in ad hoc appropriations for crop farmers to weather the economic storm.

While this helped some farmers get through one more year, the economic situation on the family farm has only gotten worse.

Any farmer will tell you that they want to sell into the market and not harvest government checks.

Although those checks may be necessary again this year, we need to address the root cause of this issue by giving farmers more markets.

So, one very important decision that Congress could make is to have permanent year-round, nationwide E15.

And, that would do just that, giving farmers more markets – particularly for corn.

Now, people would say, “Well, you better wake up,” because we’ve had nationwide, year-round markets for six years through presidential waiver.

But we need to have this by legislation because we need more certainty than what an individual president might think about this issue.

And you need that certainty because it’s going to take a lot of investment of infrastructure at retailers selling gasoline to invest in the equipment that it takes to have E15 nationwide.

Some retailers are already doing that, but not enough to have all the sales from E15 that we could have.

Now, according to research, E15 would add $25.8 billion to the U.S. economy, and $13.8 billion would be from corn demand.

Of course, ethanol production helps keep good jobs in rural communities – 43,000 jobs in Iowa alone.

Not only would it create markets for farmers, but Congress could pass year-round E15 and save – actually save – $3 to $4 billion for the American taxpayer.

That’s a win-win for the real America, and it would be a real win for where we work here in Washington, D.C. – that island surrounded by reality.

Any legislation with ad hoc payments to farmers should include allowing year-round, nationwide E15.

[It would] bring certainty to the market [and] get that investment in infrastructure that’s so very, very important to get the most massive benefits out of E15 year-round.

These ad hoc payments are nothing but a band-aid. We’ve got to stop what’s causing the bleeding. READ MORE; includes VIDEO

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Trump Considering at Least $10 Billion for Farmer Aid; Announcement Next Week (FarmDoc/Successful Farming)
US Sen. Chuck Grassley says assistance to farmers would need congressional action (Des Moines Register)
Is it now or never for year-round E15? (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
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Trump administration plans to distribute farmer aid amid shutdown (Reuters)

Excerpt from Harvest Public Media/Northern Public Radio: Even as President Trump promises a bailout will be coming to farmers soon, growers face an uncertain future.

A survey of 1,034 farmers released in September by the National Corn Growers Association showed that nearly half believe the U.S. economy is on the brink of a farm crisis, and two-thirds were more concerned about their farm’s finances than a year ago.

...

China, which purchased about half of all U.S. soybean exports last year, stopped buying U.S. soybeans in May in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs.

...

While trade tensions could potentially restrict corn exports, the effects of tariffs go beyond exports, said Brenda Gudex, executive director of the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board.

“They're affecting us as corn growers on the inputted cost that we have,” she said. “Our fertilizers are being imported, so we have a huge uncertainty there.”

Rising costs

Like households nationwide, farmers have been hit hard by inflation. Since 2020, labor costs are up 47%, fertilizer 37%, fuel and oil 32%, and seed 18%, according to the USDA. READ MORE

Excerpt from Des Moines Register: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley says billions of dollars in federal assistance could be provided to struggling farmers in two tranches. But the Iowa Republican expects the bulk of any aid will require congressional approval before it can be distributed.

The Trump administration has teased it will soon announce $10 billion to $14 billion in assistance to farmers. READ MORE

Excerpt from Reuters: The administration of President Donald Trump is planning to distribute billions in aid for farmers and reopen some activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture amid the ongoing federal shutdown, the agency said on Tuesday (October 21, 2025).

The administration was expected in early October to announce an aid package to bail out farmers hurt by trade disputes and big harvests, but Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins later said it would be delayed until after the end of the shutdown.

"Thursday, USDA will resume Farm Service Agency core operations, including critical services for farm loan processing, ARC/PLC (commodity) payments, and other programs," said Rollins in a post on X.

The administration plans to open all FSA offices, which will enable farmers to get and cash payment checks, Rollins said in an interview on Fox Business.

Rollins said on X that the aid would total more than $3 billion.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported the aid would be released and the amount.

The money for the aid will come from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a financing mechanism at the USDA that the first Trump administration used to give farmers more than $23 billion in trade aid, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

The USDA did not respond to a request for information on which types of farmers would receive aid. READ MORE