(Radio Iowa) – A member of the Iowa Soybean Association’s board of directors says the Trump Administration’s proposed 2026 production mandate for biofuels should spur production this year. Dave Walton, a farmer from Wilton, runs all of his farm equipment on soybean-based biodiesel.

“In Iowa we have a number of biodiesel plants that are either shut down, slowed down or running at far less than their capacity,” Walton says, “so this should send a signal to the marketplace that they need to get those plants turned on again and start using soybean oil.” There are 10 biodiesel plants in Iowa and industry experts say up to five have been shut down.

“Those plants employ about 1600 folks,” he says. “You want to talk about economic impact and keeping our people here and in rural Iowa, there’s a direct link between keeping those biodiesel plants up and running and keeping our rural communities energized.” Walton says production should ramp up due to growing demand from trucking companies for B-99 — the highest blend of biodiesel.

“In the past that hasn’t been possible because of the equipment,” Walton said. “Now we have companies like Optimus Technologies that are making that bolt-on that you can put on virtually any semi to be able to run B99 year round without any other modification.”

The E-P-A is proposing that at least five-point-six billion gallons of biomass-based diesel be produced next year. That exceeds the amount the biodiesel industry was lobbying for. The Renewable Fuels Standard production levels for all biofuels will become final after a public comment period and the E-P-A has the authority to adjust its recommendation based on that feedback.