While steel tariffs are currently grabbing most ag headlines these days, possible changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) may produce longer term challenges for U.S. agriculture. Battle lines between oil refiners and ethanol producers and their suppliers (corn growers) have been clearly drawn.

As the manufacturers of farm machinery grapple with the implications of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, what is shaping up to be an equally significant battle is the potential implications of changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard.

On Tuesday, President Obama vetoed an attempt by congressional Republicans to overturn the controversial Environmental Protection Agency regulation knows as the Clean Water Rule or the “Waters of the United States.”

Engine manufacturers have started unveiling technical solutions to meet a further step in off-highway diesel engine emissions regulation planned by the European Union.

Former Sen. Jim Talent today launched a new group aimed at building and expanding support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Late last week, the EPA announced proposed volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, and also proposed volume requirements for biomass-based diesel for 2017.

It has been shown that U.S. sales of farm machinery closely correlate with the price of U.S. corn. With the two core components of demand for corn being exports and ethanol, equipment dealers and manufacturers closely scrutinize the trends in both these segments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released the proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumetric requirements. For 2014, EPA is proposing to lower the conventional renewable fuel requirement from the statutory level of 14.4 billion gallons (BG) to 13 billion gallons, and slash the total RFS volumetric requirement from 18.15 BG to 15.21 BG.

Now, they're calling it a "myth." We're talking about EPA and its announcement yesterday that the agency is putting an end to the "myth" that it plans to regulate farm dust.

The EPA is trying to put to rest what it calls a "myth" that it is going to crack down on farm dust. In letters to two senators last week, Administrator Lisa Jackson said that the agency won't expand its current air quality standards to include dust created by agriculture.