Nearly $19.4 million in payments to 125 advanced biofuel producers growing non-food feedstocks for use in development for biofuels has been made by the UDSA. The funding is provided through USDA’s Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels that was established in the 2008 Farm Bill. The goal of the program is to support the research, investment and infrastructure needed to build a diverse American-based biofuels industry.

“Advanced biofuels are a key component of President Obama’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy to reduce the Nation’s reliance on foreign oil and take control of America’s energy future,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These payments represent help to spur an alternative fuels industry using renewable feedstocks grown in America, broadening the range of feedstock options available to biofuels producers, helping to create an economy built to last.”

Dozens of different feedstocks can qualify for the program but no corn-based feedstocks are allowed. For example, crop residue, animal, food and yard waste material, vegetable oil, and animal fat are some of the feedstocks that producers are cultivating and biofuels producers are developing.

Representatives of the USDA say that increased biofuel production only plays a minor role in retail food price changes. Feedstock diversity leads to market flexibility and relieves market pressure.

Click here for a list of the advanced feedstock producers that received payments.