The livestock industry made up of a coalition of livestock associations expressed disappointment with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision not to waive a federal law that requires corn to be used for ethanol production.

Many livestock organizations and states have requested the waiver earlier this year in the wake of one of the worst droughts the country has experienced in more than 50 years.

This decision will have large repercussions on the poultry industry in North Georgia. Over the past year, the industry has struggled to keep up with rising feed costs mainly due to the cost of the primary ingredient, corn.

It has been estimated by UGA’s Center of Agribusiness that the poultry industry in Georgia has had to spend an extra $1.2 million per day just to keep its flocks fed due to the cost of feed. In fact, dozens of poultry, pork, beef and dairy operations have filed for bankruptcy, been sold or simply gone out of business over the past several months because of rising feed grain prices.

The Renewable Fuels Standard requires 13.8 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol to be blended into gasoline in 2013, an amount that will use about 4.5 billion bushels of the nation’s corn crop, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

“We are extremely frustrated and discouraged that EPA chose to ignore the clear economic argument from tens of thousands of family farmers and livestock and poultry producers that the food-to-fuel policy is causing and will cause severe harm to regions in which those farmers and producers operate,” the coalition said.

USDA’s Nov. 9 crop report puts this year’s corn harvest at just 10.7 billion bushels, down 13 percent from last year and down 28 percent from USDA’s May projection. The ethanol industry will use more than 40 percent of the corn supply next year.

Further, the carryover stocks for 2012-13 are now forecast at 647 million bushels, less than 5 percent of expected corn usage and the lowest amount ever. This is a 35 percent decrease from last year’s carryover amount. This means there likely would be no corn reserves for next year should the country experience another poor crop.

“We now have about one-third less of the corn that we need to adequately supply animal feed, ethanol, exports and sufficient carryover levels,” the coalition noted. “But the government continues to mandate that a significant amount of the corn supply be blended next year into gasoline.”

When Congress expanded the RFS in 2007, certain “safety valves” were added to the law. One provision allows the EPA administrator to reduce the required volume of renewable fuel in any year based on severe harm to the economy or environment of a state, a region or the U.S.

In addition to the livestock, poultry and dairy organizations, a bipartisan group of 34 U.S. senators, 156 House members and nine governors petitioned the EPA to grant a waiver of the federal requirement for the production of corn ethanol because the mandate, coupled with a drought that has reduced yields and pushed up prices of feed grains, has caused the severe economic harm for which Congress added “safety valves.”

“Unfortunately, EPA chose to ignore all of them by issuing a decision that is going to cost more American jobs, put family farmers and ranchers out of business, create an animal feed crisis and cause food costs to soar in the coming months,” the coalition concluded.

Coalition members include organizations representing feed, meat, sheep, dairy, beef, chicken, pork and turkey producers.

Michael Wheeler is county extension coordinator for the UGA Cooperative Extension in Hall County. You can contact him at 770-535-8293, www.hallcounty.org/extension. His column appears biweekly on Thursday’s Business page and at gainesvilletimes.com.