Farmers' loyalty to Trump tested over new corn-ethanol rules

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Farmers’ loyalty to Trump tested over new corn-ethanol rules

By STEVE KARNOWSKI, SCOTT McFETRIDGE and JULIE PACE
August 28, 2019

-snip-

But the patience of Miller and many other Midwest farmers with a president they mostly supported in 2016 is being put sorely to the test.

The trigger wasn’t Trump’s China tariffs, but the waivers the administration granted this month to 31 oil refineries so they don’t have to blend ethanol into their gasoline. Since roughly 40% of the U.S. corn crop is turned into ethanol, it was a fresh blow to corn producers already struggling with five years of low commodity prices and the threat of mediocre harvests this fall after some of the worst weather in years.

“That flashpoint was reached and the frustration boiled over, and this was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” says Lynn Chrisp, who grows corn and soybeans near Hastings, Nebraska, and is president of the National Corn Growers Association.

“I’ve never seen farmers so tired, so frustrated, and they’re to the point of anger,” says Kelly Nieuwenhuis, a farmer from Primghar in northwest Iowa who said the waivers were a hot topic at a recent meeting of the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Nieuwenhuis said he voted for Trump in 2016, but now he’s not sure who he’ll support in 2020.

While Iowa farmer Miller saw Trump’s brinkmanship with China as a necessary gamble to help American workers, the ethanol waivers smacked to him of favoritism for a wealthy and powerful industry — Big Oil.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/63343a1c5866403ab7c5e06abbd0e202

[htuttle]

1. Since the tariffs didn't hurt farmers enough, he decided to kick them in the nuts, too

[Newest Reality]

2. When you grossly misplace your loyalty

Then having it tested is to be expected. Oh, but there were ulterior motives blinding you with their light, weren't there?

[Hoyt]

3. trump will propose large payments for this and trade war damage.

[PoliticAverse]

4. The whole ethanol fiasco was "favoritism for a wealthy and powerful industry"...

I have no sympathy for those farmers that supported this type of corporate welfare and now have lost it.

[Indykatie]

5. Trump's Supporters Are All For Him Creating Pain and Chaos Until It Bites Them in the A$$ n/t

[3Hotdogs]

6. My takeaway. Farmer, Kelly Nieuwenhuis, is not sure who he'll support in 2020.

Dumb-ass still ain't figured it out.