Want to Produce Low-Carbon Biofuel Feedstocks? USDA Details the Requirements

by Cassidy Walter (Successful Farming) Farmers interested in producing low-carbon biofuel feedstock now have a clearer path forward. On Tuesday, USDA hosted a webinar, sharing guidance on how its 2026 regenerative agricultural practices rule is to be implemented.

In June, USDA released the final Regenerative Feedstock Rule, which detailed how regenerative agriculture practices can contribute to carbon intensity (CI) reductions for biofuel feedstocks, getting farmers one step closer to being a part of the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit program. In this week’s webinar, USDA representatives discussed the details of practice requirements, recordkeeping, and verification.

Tillage

USDA’s Tillage Disturbance Index for Soil Carbon (T-DISC) tool measures the intensity of soil disturbance. The T-DISC value must be no greater than 0.075 for no-till and 0.252 for reduced tillage. The agency also noted primary inversion tillage implements are not permitted for reduced tillage and residue cannot be burned or harvested for either no-till or reduced tillage.

Cover Crops

Farmers must use relevant soil and site conditions to determine species selection, seedbed preparation, seeding rates, dates, depth, and method. For leguminous cover crops, farmers must have a nutrient budget.

“The cover crops must be seeded in the fall, and seeded as early as possible and terminated as late as possible,” said Maya Patel, a USDA natural resources specialist. “We’ve left that a little bit broad because this policy is meant to cover the entire country, and we understand that different cover crops in different regions need to be timed differently.”

Nutrient Management

Nutrient management must be tracked for every field in the program and will contribute to the CI rating of the bushels harvested. Prior to nutrient application, farmers must document a planned nutrient budget, yield goal, and applications of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).

Mass Balance Tracking and Verification

USDA’s feedstock carbon intensity calculator (FD-CIC) allows producers input farm practice data to determine the CI of their corn, soybeans, sorghum, and spring canola. The webinar included a demonstration of how to use the calculator. It also clarified how crops grown for this program will be tracked throughout the supply chain.

Farmers must create a biofuel feedstock report. The report travels throughout the supply chain as a key component of tracking.

USDA opted for a mass balance tracking approach to the program, meaning the actual bushels need to be tracked throughout the supply chain to the biofuel refiner.

She explained a first point of aggregation such as an elevator may physically mix bushels with those not in the program, but on paper they will be responsible for keeping track of the bushels brought in under the program and where they go next.

What’s Next?

Webinar presenters emphasized that the framework USDA has established for tracking low-CI bushels could be applied to any relevant policy. But they also acknowledged that the one on everyone’s mind these days is the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit.

Patel said now that USDA has finalized its Regenerative Feedstock Rule, the Department of Energy must incorporate the FD-CIC into the 45ZCF-GREET model, which would be used to calculate the CI score of biofuel. The Treasury Department must also cite USDA’s rule within 45Z. READ MORE