Evaluating the carbon intensity of farming practices can assist farmers in maintaining their competitiveness in today’s agricultural market.
Dr. Alejandro Plastina, an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Iowa State University, recognized the need for a comprehensive tool that could provide farmers with a clear understanding of their CO2 emissions, and, in response, he developed a free calculator specifically designed to calculate the carbon intensity score of farming operations.
The score generated via the calculator indicates the amount of carbon emissions produced per unit of crop yield and serves as a crucial metric for farmers looking to supply grain to specific ethanol plants that are enrolled in the government-backed Carbon Intensity Score program.
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Plastina explained that starting in 2025, specific ethanol plants that participate in this program will be eligible for tax credits if they accept crops with a reduced carbon footprint. The tax credit that will be issued to grain buyers is known as the Federal Tax Credit 45Z, also referred to as the “Clean Fuel Production Credit.”
Some of these ethanol plants may also provide incentives to farmers who supply crops with lower CO2 emissions, which is why Plastina is hopeful that farmers will utilize the calculator to assess their current emissions levels and explore ways to make changes that will result in a decreased carbon footprint.
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Plastina stated that the farmer may receive an additional payment if the carbon intensity score falls below the buyer’s established threshold. “We don’t yet know how much, if any, of the credit will pass through to the producer, but the potential is there,” he said.
He also clarified that the calculator requires input of five numbers: corn acres, nitrogen usage, corn yield under existing farming methods, as well as changes in nitrogen usage and yield with new farming techniques.
Although this free calculator could provide farmers with an early advantage, Plastina cautions that the guidelines and structure of the program will not be completed until 2025 and that the ultimate choices made could impact the calculation process.
