Soybean farmers applaud historic biofuel-blending rule to bolster domestic demand for agriculture

The American Soybean Association applauded President Donald Trump, U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins for finalizing historic renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for biomass-based diesel for 2026 and 2027, which will bolster U.S. soybean farmers and boost soy-based domestic biofuel production.

The new RVO rule supports the directive of the Trump administration to champion American energy dominance, with the future intention to prioritize U.S.-grown biofuels.

“U.S. soybean farmers needed a win to boost domestic markets this year, and President Trump, Administrator Zeldin and Secretary Rollins delivered in a big way,” said ASA President Scott Metzger. “ASA is grateful for the tireless efforts of EPA and USDA to ensure the soy biofuel value chain could benefit from the strongest RVOs ever finalized. The 2026-’27 RVOs will increase soybean-oil use, boost U.S. soybean processing and grow domestic biofuel markets for our crop. ASA and our soybean farmer members applaud the Trump administration for getting this tremendous rule across the finish line.”

The updated 2026-’27 RVO will increase biomass-based diesel blending to approximately 5.4 to 5.5 billion gallons, ASA stated, which is an increase of over 60 percent from 2025 volumes.

Further, the rule reallocates 70 percent of retroactive 2023-’25 small-refinery exemption volumes that EPA took action on last year in addition to the 2026-’27 compliance years.

ASA said it appreciated EPA clearing a significant backlog of legacy SREs dating back to 2016, which were remanded to the agency, and is glad to see a significant reallocation of volumes back into the blending pool to support additional biofuel production and increase soybean demand.

While the rule does not make immediate changes to prioritize domestically sourced biofuel feedstocks, ASA celebrated the EPA announcement to reduce credit generation for imported biofuels and biofuel feedstocks beginning in 2028.

“If maintained in the next RVOs, the credit reduction for imports will serve as a significant economic driver for the entire domestic biomass-based diesel value chain and will catalyze domestic demand for U.S. soy,” ASA stated.

Domestic biofuel production accounts for over half of all domestic soybean-oil consumption and serves as a critical U.S. market for soybean farmers.

RVOs set through the RFS are the cornerstone of driving domestic soy-based biofuel demand.

The EPA’s 2026-’27 RVOs are the most significant year-over-year improvement in RFS rulemaking for biomass-based diesel and, subsequently, for U.S. soybean farmers.