Trump plans ethanol boost amid farm belt voters in Iowa, sources say

Administration officials are still working out details on the E15 move and seeking to ensure the announcement gets an enthusiastic response from biofuel producers, Midwestern politicians and corn farmers who have long clamored for the change, the people said. White House officials are seeking assurances that biofuel advocates won’t use the occasion to seek other policy changes.

Trump vowed to support ethanol while campaigning for president in Iowa and has hinted at plans to lift summertime fueling restrictions on gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol.

But a formal commitment to unleash E15 is an important victory for Iowa, said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

“If you look at where he’s making the announcement — in Iowa, the largest ethanol-producing state in the United States — it sends a very clear message that he is behind the American farmer, he is behind our renewable fuels and he is ready to make it happen,” Ernst said in an interview. “He’s fulfilling his promise, and I appreciate him for doing that.”

The move could calm corn and soybean farmers fretting about low commodity prices and Chinese tariffs on crop shipments. It also could help two Iowa Republicans locked in competitive races to keep their seats: Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. David Young. Both have pressed Trump on E15.

https://www.theindependent.com/agriculture/latest/trump-plans-ethanol-boost-amid-farm-belt-voters-in-iowa/article_f0aede6c-e088-5ca7-bd76-118b7bcf2a1a.html

Black farmers were sold 'fake' seeds, lawsuit claims

Black farmers, whose numbers already have dwindled precipitously over the past century, face new hardships after suffering poor crop yields last year because they were sold "fake" soybean seeds, an association alleges in a lawsuit.

Leaders of the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association have filed a class-action lawsuit against Stine Seed, the nation's largest independent seed-producer, accusing the Adel, Iowa, firm of targeting African-Americans for sales of defective seeds.

The suit alleges that black farmers who attended the 67th Annual Mid-South Farm & Gin Show in Memphis last year bought more than $100,000 worth of "certified" seeds. But the lawsuit alleges the seeds were switched for inferior ones at a warehouse near Sledge, Miss.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/18/black-farmers-were-sold-defective-seeds-suit-claims/795147002/

>>3415319

China's new submarine engine is poised to revolutionize underwater warfare

This month, Chinese state TV channel CCTV 13 broadcast an interview with a top Chinese naval engineer, Rear Admiral Ma Weiming. The admiral is notably responsible for the development of multiple Chinese naval electromagnetic programs, including the electromagnetic catapult and railguns. In the interview, he stated that the PLAN is fitting its newest nuclear attack submarines with a "shaftless" rim-driven pumpjet, a revolutionary and silent propulsion system.

https://www.popsci.com/china-new-submarine-engine-revolutionize-underwater-warfare

>>3415514

Some really nice Booms now stop whining