ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S. — The American Soybean Association (ASA) farmer-leaders are participating in a biodiesel fly-in on Nov. 30 to meet with members of Congress in Washington, D.C., U.S. The 111th Congress is rapidly drawing to a close and the decision whether or not to extend expired tax provisions in the lame duck session will be made in the coming weeks.

"Extension and renewal of the biodiesel tax credit are critical to the economic viability of the industry," said Joe Steiner, a member of the ASA executive committee. "Expiration of the biodiesel tax incentive on Dec. 31, 2009, has resulted in lost production and jobs. This situation is likely to worsen if the credit is not reinstated."


In 2009, the U.S. biodiesel industry produced 545 million gallons of biodiesel. Based on August and September production levels, 2010 production is expected to be approximately 345 million gallons, a decline of over 35% from the previous year.

Many of the biodiesel plants in the U.S. are at various states of idle or are producing at a fraction of their overall capacity. The inability of Congress to reinstate the biodiesel tax credit has resulted in job losses and lost opportunity to increase our production of domestic, renewable biodiesel, the ASA said.