American Feed Industry Association president and CEO, Joel G. Newman, issued a statement regarding the US Environmental Protection Agency's denial of the Renewable Fuel Standard waiver petition filed by the Arkansas and North Carolina, USA, governors, calling it "extremely disappointing."

According to Newman: “EPA’s action is extremely short-sighted. EPA only looked at the potential price impact of the RFS, not the larger issue of access to corn by all end-users, including the feed, poultry and livestock and petfood industries. The US priority on food security must be at least as high as the priority placed on future energy security, especially during a time when so many Americans are already struggling to feed their families.

“AFIA will call on Congress and the Administration to not let this issue be ignored. Congress must pass and implement an RFS temporary trigger mechanism based on the USDA-calculated corn stocks-to-use ratio. This solution is recommended in H.R. 3097, the Renewable Fuel Standard Flexibility Act, introduced by Reps. Bob Goodlatte and Jim Costa with bipartisan support from more than 30 members of the House,” Newman said.

In previous comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Feed Industry Association strongly urged the agency to rely on market conditions to determine the allocation of the reduced corn crop, rather than allowing a government mandate to allocate a major portion of the crop. The American Feed Industry Association says it continues to support the eight governors’ petitions for a waiver of the ethanol RFS for the remainder of 2012 and all of calendar 2013.