Prop 12 stalls farm bill as ethanol exports surge, SDSU adds dairy major
Prop 12 is still freezing the Senate farm bill while U.S. ethanol exports are up 20% and South Dakota State added a faster path into dairy.
AgweekTV on June 20 said U.S. ethanol exports were up 20% in 2026 and USDA put fiscal 2026 export value at $5.1 billion. The same show said Proposition 12 was still holding up the Senate farm bill.
Reuters reported in May that the export gain followed record shipments the year before, underscoring how much U.S. producers are leaning on foreign buyers to keep gallons moving. USDA’s May quarterly outlook lifted the projected value of ethanol exports for fiscal 2026 to $5.1 billion from $4.595 billion in fiscal 2025, a sign that export demand is now a larger part of the industry’s economics and a more visible outlet for corn.
The export surge also turns ethanol into more than a domestic blending story. With global consumers looking for more fuel supply, overseas demand is helping support U.S. volumes at a time when the market is watching margins, trade flows and the pace of production. The figures point to a business that is increasingly dependent on export growth to add value for corn and rural plants.
On the policy side, the show returned to the continuing fight over California’s animal-welfare law. The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation on April 27 urged Congress to provide Prop. 12 relief in the farm bill, arguing that farmers need regulatory certainty as state standards continue to pile up. That fight has kept Senate negotiations tangled, with pork producers pressing for a fix before the bill can move.
AgweekTV also highlighted South Dakota State University’s new two-year dairy and food science degree program, announced on June 1. SDSU said the program is aimed at strengthening the state’s dairy workforce and getting people into dairy jobs faster.
The show rounded out with Hungry For Truth’s Farm To Fork 2026 event, an invite-only evening held Wednesday, June 10, that brought soybean farmers, community leaders and others together in a farm setting.
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