The USDA published an interim rule on Technical Guidelines for Climate-Smart Agriculture Crops Used as Biofuel Feedstocks. It establishes guidelines for quantifying, reporting and verifying the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production of biofuel feedstock commodity crops grown in the United States.

The rule establishes a framework to connect climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices applied in the production of feedstock crops with reductions in the carbon footprint of biofuels. The rule includes three feedstock crops: corn, soy and sorghum.

It also covers CSA practices that could reduce GHG emissions or sequester carbon. This includes reduced till and no-till, cover cropping, and nutrient management practices, such as the use of nitrification inhibitors.

The interim rule allows for the adoption of CSA practices both individually or in combination. Participating farmers would have the flexibility to adopt the CSA practices that make sense for their operation, while still being able to produce feedstocks with reduced carbon intensities under the rule.

The USDA is also publishing a beta version of the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA FD-CIC) to facilitate the quantification of farm-level crop-specific carbon intensity. USDA FD-CIC allows for the calculation of a farm-scale carbon intensity in line with the standards in the interim rule.

Read more on the USDA interim rule for crops used as biofuel feedstocks here.