Grassley visits Alta plant, hears concerns on E15, rural workforce

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley spent about 30 minutes taking questions inside Platinum Crush’s Alta soybean plant on July 8, and the most urgent one in the room was how much longer Buena Vista County can wait for FEMA to settle flood-repair work in Sioux Rapids and Linn Grove. About 40 people, including Platinum Crush employees, local residents, county officials and agriculture workers, turned out for the workforce stop to press him on biofuels, the farm bill and disaster recovery.

Grassley spent the congressional recess meeting directly with workers and community leaders across Iowa. Platinum Crush’s plant began operating in May 2024 and can process 40 million bushels of soybeans a year, making it one of the county’s most visible pieces of value-added agriculture along Highway 7.

Grassley said E15 remains stuck because a handful of major refineries are opposing it, and he suggested appropriations could be the only realistic route this year if broader legislation fails to move before the election cycle. In his June 2026 E15 update, Grassley said allowing year-round E15 could save drivers up to 40 cents a gallon and more than $150 million during the 2026 summer driving season. He also said drivers able to use E15 nationwide could save about $400 a year, while access would create 128,000 jobs and generate $25.8 billion in economic activity, including nearly $14 billion in added corn demand.

Congress typically renews farm policy every five years, and the House has already passed its version while the Senate Agriculture Committee plans to take up its own bill later this month. For Buena Vista County farmers, the main issues are crop-insurance terms, specialty-crop research funding and the fate of food assistance error-rate changes that could still slow passage.

Paul Merten, the Buena Vista County board chair, used the Alta stop to raise a more immediate local concern: FEMA’s handling of disaster recovery in Sioux Rapids. The town was hard hit in the 2024 floods, and the county has spent years navigating shifting requirements and inconsistent federal guidance while trying to move repairs forward, including work on the Linn Grove dam and adjacent parkland. The county has already approved a $40,000 commitment from its General Basic ending-fund balance to keep the project moving while FEMA review continues, and the conservation board is still waiting for action after a Feb. 3 project write-up and a formal appeal.

A 2022 county document tied the Linn Grove damage to FEMA disaster DR4421, showing how long the recovery has dragged on. Grassley said his office would connect the county with a longtime FEMA specialist in Washington for non-policy issues.