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Momentum building for Biodiesel Tax Credit

A Minnesota Soybean Growers Association director says momentum is building in Congress to reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Credit.

Chris Hill farms near Brewster, Minnesota, and is in Washington, D.C. this week for a National Biodiesel Board (NBB) meeting.

He tells Brownfield there’s mounting support for a bill that not only renews the legislation, but changes the structure of the tax credit.

“What we’re asking for is to put the $1 dollar per-gallon credit back on, and change it from a blender’s credit to a producer’s credit.”

Previous tax credits have only been available to blenders of biodiesel, which NBB vice president of federal affairs Anne Steckel says allows foreign manufacturers to take advantage of U.S. subsidies.

Hill says the 2017 Biodiesel Tax Credit bill benefits American farmers, workers and taxpayers.

“We’re getting some very good bipartisan support from both sides, and what really is driving this (support) is it’s basically a jobs bill.  By changing this from a blender’s credit to a production credit, we’ll turn this into ‘Made in the U.S.A.”

Since the tax credit was implemented in 2005, biodiesel production has grown from less than 100 million gallons to nearly 2 billion last year.