Record-Breaking Corn Forecast Prompts Push For E15 Legislation

The National Corn Growers Association has intensified its call for action from Congress and the administration after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest World Agriculture and Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report projected a record 16.7-billion-bushel corn crop this year, further threatening the livelihood of farmers already facing record-low corn prices.

“Corn growers are already marketing their corn for extremely low corn prices, and this massive projected corn supply without market-based solutions to increasing corn demand is already causing corn prices to fall further,” said Illinois farmer and NCGA President Kenneth Hartman Jr. “Because we need markets fast for this supply, we are redoubling and intensifying our call for Congress to pass pending E15 legislation that will allow for year-round consumer access to higher blends of ethanol and for the Trump administration to quickly broker deals that will open new foreign markets for corn.”

Today’s WASDE report projects average corn yields of 188.8 bushels per acre for 2025, for an overall crop of 16.7 billion bushels. If the projections prove accurate, this year’s crop will be the largest on record by far: 1.4 billion bushels above the current production record set in 2023, a 9.1 percent increase.

An immediate boost to demand would be the passage of legislation authorizing year-round consumer access to 15 percent ethanol blend, or E15. This solution comes at no cost to consumers, requires no additional infrastructure developments and would generate demand for an additional 457 million bushels of corn, according to NCGA estimates.

NCGA is also pushing the administration to quickly broker additional deals with other countries and finalize details on deals already announced. For example, India, Vietnam and Kenya are all strategically important markets to U.S. corn growers.

“My family survived the 1980s farm crisis,” said Hartman. “I don’t want my daughter to be talking about the 2020’s farm crisis in 40 years. The situation is dire, and new market demand is the only way we are going to dig out of this.”