Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig is keeping the heat on Washington to green-light year-round sales of ethanol, a fight that he has spearheaded for years as a leader of the nation’s top corn-producing state.
Naig, a Republican who stepped into his position in 2018, has pushed to expand production of the biofuel to boost domestic and international market access for Iowa corn farmers hurt by soaring input costs, falling commodity prices and other economic headwinds.
He’s hopeful that the new energy council Congress established and President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of year-round E15 are enough to push some kind of ethanol bill across the finish line.
“I’m very optimistic, but don’t confuse that with us taking it for granted. We’re really going to push and try to support that work,” he told POLITICO in a recent interview, in which he also discussed how he’s lobbying for more trade deals with Southeast Asia and how he believes Trump’s tariff agenda is on the right track despite the near-term burdens it has imposed on U.S. producers.
