In a bipartisan vote of 221-204, H.R. 7606, the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, has passed. The bill includes biofuels and precision agriculture provisions supported by soybean farmers.
The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Angie Craig, would invest $200 million in biofuels infrastructure to expand biofuels availability and utilization across the country. This program would be modeled after the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program at USDA, which has proven successful by increasing access to biofuels by one billion gallons per year. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act includes two of Representative Craig’s bills – the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act and the Strengthening the Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act, which are both critical pieces of her ongoing effort to lower prices for Minnesotans.
“The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association appreciates Representative Craig’s leadership on this crucial issue,” MSGA Executive Director Joe Smentek said. “The past few years have shown us over and over that we need more attention paid to supply chain issues. Whether we are dealing with a barge hitting a bridge, or a worldwide pandemic, the U.S. agriculture industry and the supply chains it relies on need to run and fuel our economy.”
It also includes $500 million that would provide additional USDA National Resources Conservation Service payments to farmers for implementation of nutrient management practices and to increase cost share and practice payments to incentivize the purchase of precision agriculture equipment, systems, and technology. Soy farmers appreciate these steps to leverage conservation and precision ag and reduce grower input costs.
Brad Doyle, American Soybean Association president and soybean farmer from Arkansas, said, “ASA applauds the House for recognizing supply chain challenges in agriculture, the role of biofuels as a renewable, home-grown energy source, the importance of improving access to precision agriculture technologies and the need for additional resources in EQIP for nutrient management.”
