IL Corn has released a new tool to help Illinois farmers explore how farming practices and geography can affect their carbon intensity (CI) scores.
The tool uses the U.S. Department of Agriculture's approved FD-CIC Feedstock Calculator and its underlying calculations, but presents the information through an interactive map. Farmers can use the map to explore how different practices may change CI scores across Illinois. Lower CI scores are represented by darker green areas on the map.
The USDA Feedstock Calculator scores fields individually, meaning different fields on the same farm can have different CI scores. The calculator also uses actual and expected yields. Expected yield provides a backstop when weather or other unforeseen circumstances reduce actual production.
Farmers also should account for all nitrogen used on a field. Total actual nitrogen use includes nitrogen contained in products such as MAP, DAP and MESZ, not only primary nitrogen applications.
Tillage is measured using the Tillage Data Collection System, or T-DISC. Farmers claiming no-till must commit to no-till four out of five years. Tillage is evaluated by specific tillage windows, with the most intensive window determining the overall T-DISC score.
Location also can affect modeled CI scores. When a county is selected, several counties or areas may be highlighted together because the USDA calculator uses Major Land Resource Areas, or MLRAs. MLRAs group areas with similar soil and other natural-resource characteristics where carbon accumulation is expected to respond similarly.
As a result, the same practice can have different modeled effects depending on where a farm is located. Cover crops, for example, generally have greater modeled CI benefits farther south, where they have more time to establish, while no-till benefits tend to increase farther north.
The IL Corn tool is intended for informational purposes and is not a certification tool. Farmers should work directly with their biofuel producer to determine their official CI score. Results using the same information should be relatively close.
The 45Z tax credit belongs to the biofuel producer, and each facility determines whether and how much of that value is passed back to farmers.
Chain of custody also remains based on a mass-balance system. Grain must ultimately be delivered to the biofuel producer claiming the value, either directly or through an elevator that supplies the facility.
IL Corn continues to advocate for a Book & Claim system that would separate the environmental attribute from the physical bushel. Such a system could allow more farmers to participate while providing greater transparency into the value of lower-CI attributes.
Farmers can use the tool to run scenarios, compare practices and understand which factors affect their CI scores. IL Corn recommends that any changes to farming practices also be evaluated for their agronomic and economic implications.
The tool can be accessed here.
Source: IL Corn, "Conservation Corner: Explore Your Farm’s CI Score"