Trump visits Iowa amid farm stress and biofuel delays
The President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Iowa, on Tuesday, to boost his political support. This state is critical to the rural coalition of Trump, and farmers and producers of renewable fuels are becoming increasingly frustrated with the 'farm economy and its mounting pressure.
The visit to the nation's biggest producer of corn and ethanol coincides with growing concern over low crop prices, high inputs costs, and policy uncertainty that threatens Trump's support across the U.S. Farm Belt.
Lance Lillibridge is a 56-year old corn and beef farmer who plans to drive two hours from Vinton, Iowa to Des Moines to meet Trump. He said that he, like many other farmers, has been hard hit by the trade dispute with China, as well as the rising cost of seeds and fertilizer.
Right now, everything is terrible. "There will have to be some kind of action taken," Lillibridge said. I've never been so poor with cash in my life," Lillibridge told reporters, calling himself a Trump "for the majority" supporter. The Iowa stop came as the White House managed a crisis in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents killed 37-year old U.S. Citizen Alex Pretti at a protest.
Trump will likely emphasize the support of his administration for renewable fuels and agriculture, while presenting his economic agenda in a broader sense as an effort to make household goods, food and fuel more affordable.
Scott Irwin is an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois. He said that while Trump's policies on trade have hurt farmers, the government has lowered fuel prices and eased regulations to keep support.
Irwin stated that Trump's support would remain strong as long as he and the Republican Congress were willing to provide special programs for a large amount of crop loss. A closed /Ipsos survey conducted on Sunday revealed that 30% of Americans approved of Trump's handling the rising cost-of-living, while 59% were disapproving, including 9 out of 10 Democrats and 1 in 5 Republicans. The strain on the U.S. agricultural economy is growing, with unsold tractors and agribusiness firms reporting shrinking profits. Markets have been weighed down by abundant grain supplies, and production costs are high. This has led to a decline in crop prices for the third consecutive year.
The pressure has been exacerbated by the delays in biofuel policy. The administration has pushed back the final 2026 biofuel blend quotas. These quotas, also known as RVOs or renewable volume obligations (RVOs), are known by the term "renewable volume obligations". The government has not finalized the tax guidance for the renewable fuel credits, known as 45Z. Also, efforts to secure congressional approval for gasoline blended with 15% of ethanol year-round have stagnated.
Mark Mueller, President of the Iowa Corn Growers Association said that without a year-round, nationwide?E15 many farmers will continue to rely on government payments in order to survive.
Iowa's biodiesel sector has been particularly affected by these delays. Iowa's biodiesel plant produced 244 millions gallons of biodiesel in 2025. This is down 31% compared to 2024. The state's plants are capable of producing more than 400 millions gallons per year at full capacity.
Monte Shaw, the executive director of Iowa Biodiesel Association, said that 2025 was a "real gut punch" for biodiesel. Lack of tax policy and low biofuel quotas have sent producers into a tailspin. Plants are hanging on by the fingertips, waiting for Washington to clarify. (Reporting from Jarrett Renshaw and Karl Plum respectively in Philadelphia and Chicago; editing by Caitlin Smith and Ethan Smith).
(source: Reuters)
