FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2006

CONTACT: Becky Grisham, Missouri Corn Growers Association, (573) 893-4181

ETHANOL STANDARD ADVANCES TO GOVERNOR’S DESK
Corn Growers Celebrate Victory:
Missouri Poised to Join Ethanol Elite

(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.)—The Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) praised the Missouri General Assembly for passing a comprehensive statewide ethanol standard to secure Missouri’s position as a national leader in renewable fuels. The bill now moves to the Governor’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law.

“Members of the General Assembly, MCGA grower-leaders, principals of ethanol plants, and the many farmers and others who gave their time to this momentous cause are certainly deserving of our resounding thanks and praise,” says MCGA CEO Gary Marshall. "We applaud Governor Matt Blunt, Senate and House leadership as well as the bill’s champions Sen. John Cauthorn, Rep. Bob Behnen and Rep. Martin Rucker for standing tall to create a better environment for us all.”

Declared a top priority by Gov. Blunt, House Bill 1270 & 1027 requires gasoline sold in Missouri contain 10 percent ethanol when the price of ethanol is the same or lower than regular unleaded gasoline. By utilizing ethanol made from corn, this legislation provides the opportunity for farmers to strengthen the rural economy, improve air quality and reduce our unhealthy dependence on foreign oil. Missouri is the sixth state in the nation with a renewable fuel standard, joining Minnesota, Montana, Hawaii, Washington and Iowa.

“Farmers and legislators went head to head with Big Oil and Casey’s General Stores in a long, arduous battle,” recounts MCGA President Terry Hilgedick, a corn producer from Hartsburg, Mo. “It took calls from the fields, countless meetings and an energy independence rally at the capitol, but in the end it’s the consumer that ultimately wins with a cleaner, safer fuel.”

The statewide ethanol standard will:

• require marketers to use ethanol blends after Jan. 1, 2008 whenever price is competitive with gasoline;
• prevent major oil companies from blocking marketers from blending ethanol;
• allow tracking and compliance to be easily monitored by the Departments of Revenue and Agriculture;
• provide exemptions for aviation fuel, premium gasoline, bulk transfers between terminals, as well as any specific exemptions declared by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and air quality waivers issued by the governor;
• require infrastructure to be built in the few areas not already prepared to use ethanol;
• help ensure a lower price for wholesalers which marketers should pass along to consumers.