Quick Action Needed by DOE and Treasury

Press Contact: Monte Shaw
515-252-6249

WEST DES MOINES, IA – Today, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) thanked U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins for releasing the USDA’s final rule on regenerative agriculture practices. This rule lays out guidelines for farmers to quantify, report, and verify the carbon intensity (CI) scores of the crops they grow for the production of biofuels.

“This rule is a great step forward from the draft rule, providing greater flexibility for farmers to adopt the practices that make the most sense for their farm,” stated IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “The benefits of recognizing regenerative ag practices ripple throughout rural America. Farmers can benefit from adopting these practices. Biofuels producers can benefit from sourcing low-CI feedstocks and accessing massive new markets around the globe. And maybe most importantly, biofuels production will now be the single biggest driver of regenerative ag practices that improve water quality throughout rural America. And this should just be the start. Over time, we hope that additional regenerative ag practices and additional biofuels feedstocks will also be included.”

For now, while the rule is an important and necessary step toward ensuring farmers receive the recognition they deserve for improving their crops’ CI scores under the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit, it is not the final piece of the puzzle.

“While USDA’s action today is great news for farmers, the priority becomes the Department of Energy expeditiously incorporating this tool into the agency’s 45Z GREET model,” added Shaw. “Then, the Treasury Department must immediately recognize that updated model in time for farmers to make decisions this fall. It may seem a little early when this year’s harvest isn’t even out of the ground yet, but many farmers will already be making decisions by August that will impact the CI of next year’s crop.”

As a standalone USDA tool, the CI calculators have the potential to be adopted by states and even international programs looking at incorporating farming practices into clean fuel programs moving forward.

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The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state’s liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing over 5 billion gallons annually – including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity – and 8 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 408 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org.