The Rozenboom Report – January 23, 2026

by Senator Ken Rozenboom

Friends, occasionally I write a newsletter devoted to a single important issue facing us at the Capitol. This is one of those times, and the issue at hand is the ongoing controversy regarding property rights vs. carbon pipelines. Here is my view.

Pipeline Solutions
For several years we in Iowa have been pulled apart by policies established in Washington DC. In this case, I’m referring to massive tax credits for low carbon ethanol and the need for a carbon sequestration pipeline. Of course, that has led to a contentious five year debate over property rights in Iowa. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can find a way forward…we must find a way forward. I believe there is a win-win solution.

We are at an inflection point in Iowa. In 2004, American farmers raised the first 10 billion bushel corn crop. In 2025 American corn farmers produced a 17 billion bushel corn crop, a 70% increase in 21 years. Remarkable!

But in 2025 Iowa farmers lost over a dollar for every bushel of corn raised which translates to a $2.9 billion loss for Iowa farmers. Soybean prices also remain well under the cost of production, representing an additional $1 billion loss. And all that translates into an unhealthy agricultural economy and a large hole in the Iowa annual state budget.

So how do we sell 17 billion bushels of corn? Well, that can be a problem. Traditional markets for corn have been reliable over that last 25 years. Livestock feed markets remain strong in Iowa. Fructose syrup production has been steady, but recent policy changes in Washington relative to the American diet threaten that. Corn exports have been variable over the last 25 years. The only growing market since that first 10 billion bushel corn crop has been ethanol. Thankfully the ethanol market demand for corn has increased from around 1 billion bushels per year to 5.3 billion bushels. Over one half of Iowa’s corn production now goes into ethanol.

Meanwhile Brazil has greatly improved their agriculture infrastructure, and corn and soybean production has increased dramatically. Because their climate allows double-cropping, Brazilian farmers can produce corn and soybean 30% cheaper than we can. Those dynamics have allowed Brazil to become the dominant exporter of corn and soybeans, pushing American farmers into a secondary role.

It’s clear that Iowa’s farmers face a tough future unless we can find a way to develop new markets. And obviously, as Iowa agriculture goes, so goes Iowa’s economy. This is critical!

There are several potentially large new markets for low carbon intensity ethanol. The most promising new market is the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). But that requires ethanol that has the low carbon intensity score as established by the airline industry and the federal 45Z tax credits. Hence, the need for carbon sequestration and pipelines to move the carbon. Currently SAF is being made only from imported Brazilian ethanol which has the required low carbon score. Recently, the state of Nebraska has been aggressively gearing up to produce low carbon intensity ethanol that will allow it to develop a SAF industry, and their corn producers will benefit greatly. Iowans don’t like to lose to Nebraska on the football field. We certainly don’t want to lose the corn production battle to them!

There are other promising new value-added uses for carbon such as its use for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). It’s hard to imagine anything that is more in the public interest for the Iowa economy than a CO2 pipeline that allows our state to meet the demand of these new markets.

So how do we move forward? How do we restore profitability to Iowa’s farmers while providing even better property rights protections for landowners? What is the win-win solution?

Let’s update Iowa’s outdated property rights provisions. Let’s widen the corridor for possible projects so that they can obtain voluntary easements from willing landowners and go around unwilling landowners. These features are included in Senate File 2067.

Please remember that 74% of the Summit pipeline route has been obtained from 1400 landowners that do recognize the need for Iowa to produce low carbon intensity ethanol. Their property rights must also be respected.

Once we move forward with infrastructure that will allow for the capture and the transport of carbon, as Nebraska has, we can build some very significant value-added new markets for our corn.

Most Iowans dislike how much Washington meddles in our affairs. For example, I’ve never met a farmer that liked getting a subsidy check from Washington. I’ve also never met a farmer that didn’t cash the check. This time the subsidy is in the form of a tax credit for low carbon intensity ethanol. It’s time for Iowa to cash the check.

The essential question is this: Which sign do we put up on Iowa’s borders? “Open for Business” or “Going Out of Business”? For me, the answer is obvious.