U.S. Farmers’ Biofuel Push Reaches Moment of Truth With Key Vote
By Elizabeth Elkin
The U.S. agriculture industry’s long-running push to expand higher-ethanol gasoline is at a critical juncture as farmers search for fresh sources of demand.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on legislation that would allow year-round, nationwide sales of E15 gasoline, a move widely seen as one of the most direct ways to expand the market for biofuels. Despite bipartisan backing, the measure’s prospects aren’t certain.
“You definitely see support from Republicans for this, but we also have Democrats in farm states that want this E15 as well,” said Jacqui Fatka, an analyst at CoBank. “I just don’t know if we have enough.”
Efforts to authorize permanent E15 sales have failed for more than a decade, largely due to opposition from much of the oil industry, which has argued that biofuel blending mandates impose significant costs on refiners.
This time, however, the politics are more complicated. The latest proposal pairs E15 expansion with limits on exemptions from biofuel-blending requirements for small refineries — a provision that has drawn support from some large oil companies but sparked fierce resistance from smaller operators. That split within the refining sector is now a key obstacle for E15.
For corn farmers, the stakes are high. E15 — gasoline made with 15% corn-based ethanol — could provide a meaningful boost to demand, and profits, at a time when growers are dealing with record crops and rising costs of inputs like fertilizer.
“If we get to E15, it could consume up to another 15% of the U.S. corn crop,” Chuck Magro, chief executive officer of seed supplier Corteva Inc., said in a call with analysts last week. “So that would be very, very good, I think, for U.S. farmers.”
Even smaller shifts could have an outside impact. A one-percentage-point increase in the national blend rate in the 2025-2026 marketing year would mean an additional 486 million bushels of corn demand and 1.36 billion more gallons of ethanol, according to the National Corn Growers Association.
The push for E15 comes as the U.S. rolls out its most aggressive biofuel blending mandates to date, finalized in March after months of delays. While the renewable fuel standards were welcomed by farm groups, they leave conventional biofuel volumes — mostly corn ethanol — largely unchanged. Current blending levels also fall short of those requirements.
That dynamic has heightened the focus on E15 as a relatively straightforward way to create more demand and close the gap. The war in Iran is also bolstering the cause for E15, as the surge in crude oil prices spurs calls to expand biofuels markets at a faster pace.
E15 typically is cheaper per gallon than conventional E10 gasoline, though it’s also less energy dense. Its expansion has been constrained in part by gasoline volatility restrictions that effectively block warm-weather sales of the fuel in areas where smog is a problem. While the Environmental Protection Agency has issued temporary waivers in recent years, those have faced pushback from some refiners.
Biofuels advocates say that if the U.S. gave certainty that E15 would be allowed permanently all year, more fuel stations would be willing to sell it.
“The overwhelming majority of retailers are not giving that choice to consumers because they’re not willing to make the investment or just the administrative burden to offer a seasonable fuel,” said Geoff Cooper, chief executive officer of biofuels trade group Renewable Fuels Association.
Disagreements persist over the underlying bottlenecks. Some refiners cite infrastructure constraints that limit ethanol blending capacity, while a group that represents truck stop operators points instead to weak consumer demand. Regulatory hurdles, including approvals for storage tanks and fuel pumps, add another layer of friction.
But what’s clear is that even the biggest-ever mandates for biofuel blending offer limited relief for growers grappling with risings costs and abundant supplies.
“For corn farmers, it was status quo,” said Fatka.
Linking E15 to changes in refinery exemptions further complicates the path forward.
Existing federal law allows small refineries to be granted relief from annual biofuel-blending mandates if they demonstrate “disproportionate economic hardship.” The latest proposal would sharply limit those waivers, which advocates for small refineries have warned threatens the economics of some fuel-making plants.
The Small Refineries of America coalition said last week the current legislation includes amendments that are “completely detrimental” to small refineries. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, it proposed allowing for year-round E15 but offering less extreme changes to exemptions.
A similar legislative effort on E15 failed earlier this year, prompting lawmakers to form a congressional council to seek a compromise. With those divisions unresolved, the latest push for E15 faces another uncertain outcome.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.