Happy Thursday!
Pour the coffee, kick the mud off the boots, and let's talk about a US tax credit that just became a Prairie story.
Today we've got Washington quietly widening a door for canola oil, a survey confirming your auto-steer is officially not fancy anymore, and a cow herd that keeps shrinking while everyone argues about whether to hit the gas or the brakes.
Let's get into it. 👇
🌾 The Big Bin: 45Z Just Made Canadian Canola an Approved Pathway
What happened. Farms.com reported Thursday that the US 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit is reshaping demand for oilseed oil in renewable fuels, and buried in the mechanics is a detail that matters a lot north of the 49th.
The credit pays fuel producers based on the carbon intensity of what they make, not on blending volume like the old biodiesel credit.
For fuel produced after Dec. 31, 2025, the feedstock has to be grown or produced in the United States, Mexico, or Canada. Full stop.
The indirect land use change penalty is gone, which changes the math for every crop-based feedstock.
USDA has finalized its Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator, the tool that scores how your practices affect a crop's carbon footprint.
Why it happened. That land use penalty was the whole ballgame. It stacked extra emissions onto crop-based oils and shoved canola's carbon score above the eligibility threshold, which locked Canadian canola oil out of the credit almost entirely. Strip the penalty out and canola drops back under the bar.