Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was in Iowa at the end of last week and announced cost sharing grants to support infrastructure to increase consumer access to higher renewable fuel blends. Iowa Soybean Association President Jeff Jorgenson says the announcement is encouraging to soybean farmers and is a win for both farmers and consumers.

Of the $100 million USDA has provided for this program, $14 million is intended to support infrastructure for biodiesel blends above 5 percent, such as B-20. The grants will be matched by private and state investments. Jorgenson says that increased usage of biodiesel which is what growers need.

He says the biodiesel industry can grow from this added boost provided by these cost sharing grants.

Iowa’s biodiesel plants produced about 345 million gallons of biodiesel in 2019 making it the number one biodiesel producing state.