EMMETSBURG, IOWA — Poet, the largest ethanol company in the U.S., has a world-famous biofuel plant in Emmetsburg. The king of the Netherlands once visited it. “The whole town was there, Luke Daum of Emmetsburg told me before a Ted Cruz event here today.

Everyone attending the Cruz town hall was greeted by an employee of America’s Renewable Future, an ethanol lobby headed by Eric Branstad, the son of Republican governor Terry Branstad. The ARF aide handed out glossy fliers giving all Democrats and most Republicans a green light on their support for ethanol. Only Rand Paul and Ted Cruz got failing grades.