The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Friday only a minimal increase in U.S. biofuel usage, reflecting modest growth in production of next-generation cellulosic ethanol, and the decision was immediately slammed by biodiesel producers.

More than a dozen Republican senators are demanding that President Donald Trump bar Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue from having any input into whether small refineries get exemptions from biofuel usage mandates.

Despite a White House veto threat, House Democrats are pushing through a fiscal 2020 spending bill that includes funding for departments and agencies critical to agriculture.

President Donald Trump heads to Iowa this week to shore up his rural base and promote the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, fresh from dropping a threat to impose new tariffs that farm groups and lawmakers feared could jeopardize congressional approval of the North American trade pact.