A coalition of ethanol companies has formed a new organization with the goal of fighting back against groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association that have been lobbying the government to roll back incentives for ethanol.

The organization, Growth Energy, is planning a national advertising campaign, starting in Wednesday’s New York Times, to defend the industry from accusations that biofuel production is driving up food prices. Bruce Rastetter, chief executive of Ames-based Hawkeye Energy, told The Des Moines Register that Growth Energy would be a new voice for the industry.

[Grocery Manufacturers Association] has argued that ethanol is one of several factors behind recent food price inflation and one of the only ones that the government can control. …

The Glover Park Group, the Washington consulting firm that has been managing the anti-ethanol campaign for GMA and other organizations, called Growth Energy a “splinter group” that “seeks to perpetuate the myth that rising food prices are a result of a food-company conspiracy.”

Besides Hawkeye Energy, other companies involved include Poet LLC, which owns seven ethanol plants in Iowa, Amaizing Energy of Denison and Green Plains Renewable Energy of Omaha.