Donation precedes ethanol waiver request

HOUSTON, July 2 (UPI) -- Documents show Texas Gov. Rick Perry sought relief from ethanol production mandates just six days after a poultry producer donated $100,000 to a group he heads.

East Texas poultry producer Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim gave $100,000 to the Republican Governor's Conference less than a week before Perry submitted a waiver request, The Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.

The newspaper says records obtained through the Texas Public Information Act reveal a March meeting between Pilgrim and Perry to discuss the negative impact the federal corn-based production mandates were having on livestock producers.

In filing his waiver request, the newspaper says Perry sent a letter to all 22 of his fellow GOP governors asking them to join him.

Perry pressed for a waiver despite a Texas A&M study that concluded it would have little or no effect in driving down the price of feed corn for poultry.