Biofuel advocates praise governor’s advocacy on E15
The state’s leading biofuels advocates, Renew Kansas Biofuels Association, Kansas Corn and Kansas Sorghum Producers extend their joint appreciation to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly for her continued support of year-round E15 following a statement the Kelly administration issued on Feb. 24.
“We thank Gov. Kelly for her statement supporting E15 and the benefits year-round access would bring to our state’s farmers, fuel retailers, drivers and communities,” said Ron Seeber, president and CEO of Renew Kansas Biofuels Association. “We appreciate her pushing Congress to take action, and we also support her willingness to move forward with an opt-out waiver as an option if a national solution is not reached. Either way, year-round E15 will strengthen our state’s economy.”
Renewable Fuels Association notes ethanol and distillers grains production in Kansas has a $1.1 billion impact on the state’s economy, while drivers in Kansas currently consume approximately 125 million gallons of ethanol, saving $366 million annually and avoiding 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
“The Kansas Corn Growers Association appreciates Gov. Kelly’s pressure on Congress to pass year-round E15 at the federal level. A federal fix is badly needed so that E15 can be sold year-round, nationwide at this time of depressed commodity prices,” said Josh Roe, CEO of Kansas Corn. “Additionally, the governor can provide regulatory certainty to Kansas fuel retailers by signing onto the EPA opt out, like eight of her midwestern colleagues have done. This provides regulatory certainty for Kansas fuel retailers and farmers, no matter what happens at the federal level, a certainty that retailers in neighboring states of Nebraska and Missouri enjoy.”
In 2025 Kansas corn farmers harvested a record breaking 943 million bushels of corn on 6.5 million acres. Increased market opportunities such as year-round E15 are vital to increase corn demand. “The Kansas Sorghum Producers Association appreciates Gov. Kelly’s statement urging Congress to move on this elegant solution that bolsters a key domestic market, increases farm profitably and decreases consumer costs in tandem through year-round access to E15,” said Adam York, CEO of Kansas Sorghum Producers Association. “We urge Congress to heed Gov. Kelly’s remarks and we welcome her administration pursing a state opt-out pathway if Congress fails to allow year-round E15 across the nation this summer.”
In 2025, Kansas sorghum producers harvested a record-breaking 252 million bushels, up 38% from the prior year, averaging 90 bushels an acre across 2.8 million harvested Kansas acres. These stats mean Kansas farmers produced 58% of total U.S. sorghum production this year, or one out of every two bushels of U.S. sorghum, a key starch-based biofuel feedstock for High Plains ethanol plants.
