By Josh Rahm, ASA Director of Government Affairs
When soybean farmers plant their crops each spring, their focus is understandably on weather, markets, and producing the highest-quality crop possible. Few are thinking about a regulatory hearing in Sacramento, a legislative meeting in Santa Fe, or a parliamentary vote in Brussels. Yet today, those decisions increasingly influence the value of every bushel grown across rural America.
Josh Rahm met with Governor Newsom’s Office in Sacramento, California.
As biofuels continue to play a growing role in America’s energy future, many of the policies shaping demand for soybean oil are being developed not only in Washington, D.C., but also in state capitols, regulatory agencies, and international forums around the world. Recognizing this changing landscape, the American Soybean Association established the Biomass-Based Diesel Initiative (BBDI), a long-term strategy dedicated to protecting, preserving, and expanding markets for soybean-based biodiesel and renewable diesel through proactive state, federal, and international policy engagement.
Over the past year, that investment has delivered meaningful results. Working alongside ASA farmer leaders, affiliated state soybean associations, industry partners, renewable fuel producers, processors, researchers, and coalition organizations, the BBDI has helped secure significant policy victories while positioning soybean farmers as trusted voices in conversations shaping the future of low-carbon transportation fuels. These accomplishments reflect more than successful advocacy. They demonstrate the value of building relationships, leading with sound science, and ensuring farmers have a seat at the table before decisions are made. Markets don’t simply happen, they’re built. Every relationship we establish, every coalition we strengthen, and every conversation we have with policymakers is ultimately about creating stronger, more sustainable demand for U.S. soybean farmers.
California: Where the Future of Clean Fuels is Being Written
Few states influence renewable fuel policy more than California. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) has become a model for clean fuel programs across North America. Decisions made there increasingly shape policies in other states, making California one of the most important markets, and policy arenas, for U.S. soybean growers. Recognizing that importance, the BBDI significantly expanded ASA’s engagement throughout California over the past year. Rather than participating only during formal rulemakings, ASA invested in building long-term relationships with legislators, regulators, environmental agencies, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration, fuel producers, agricultural organizations, ports, refiners, transportation leaders, and academic experts.
The strategy was straightforward: engage early, provide credible science, understand stakeholders’ priorities, and become a trusted resource throughout the policymaking process. That approach required extensive travel across California, bringing together diverse stakeholders through meetings, workshops, technical discussions, refinery and port visits, and coalition-building efforts that demonstrated how soybean-based biodiesel and renewable diesel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening rural economies, supporting domestic manufacturing, and improving America’s energy security.
One of the year’s most significant accomplishments came through ASA’s leadership in helping secure updated implementation guidance for California’s LCFS Sustainability Guardrails. Working closely with the National Oilseed Processors Association, renewable fuel producers, and industry partners, ASA helped ensure the final guidance recognizes practical supply-chain documentation and mass balance accounting rather than requiring impossible field-level traceability of individual soybeans. The result provides long-awaited regulatory certainty while maintaining strong environmental integrity and a practical, science-based solution that protects investment throughout the renewable fuels value chain, helping preserve critical markets for U.S. soybean farmers. Perhaps most importantly, it reinforced an important lesson: lasting policy victories are built on trusted relationships developed long before decisions are finalized.
Science Prevails in the European Union
While California represented one of the year’s most significant domestic successes, another major victory occurred thousands of miles away. Earlier this year, the European Parliament rejected a proposal that would have unfairly penalized soybean oil by effectively classifying it as a high indirect land-use change risk feedstock. Had the proposal advanced, it could have significantly reduced future opportunities for soybean oil in European renewable fuel markets despite overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating U.S. soybean production differs substantially from production systems associated with deforestation elsewhere in the world. Recognizing the stakes, ASA worked alongside the U.S. Soybean Export Council, state soybean organizations, and other international stakeholders to advocate for policies grounded in credible science rather than broad assumptions. Together, the coalition emphasized what U.S. soybean farmers have demonstrated for decades through continuous improvement in productivity, conservation, and sustainability: U.S. soy should be evaluated based on its own environmental performance. That message resonated.
The European Parliament ultimately rejected the proposal, preserving valuable market opportunities for U.S. soybean oil while reaffirming an important principle that sustainability and biofuel policy must recognize regional differences and rely on measurable science. The outcome also highlighted the growing importance of international engagement. Today’s soybean markets are increasingly global, making it essential for U.S. farmers to have a strong voice wherever policies affecting demand are being developed.
Building Relationships Across the States
California and Europe may have captured many of the headlines, but they represent only part of a much broader strategy. Over the past year, the BBDI has expanded ASA’s engagement across states evaluating clean fuel standards, transportation decarbonization strategies, renewable fuel incentives, carbon accounting methodologies, indirect land-use change, and emerging opportunities for biomass-based diesel, maritime, and sustainable aviation fuel. Every state presents different opportunities. Some are developing entirely new clean fuel programs while others are refining existing policies or modernizing regulations already in place. In every case, the objective remains the same: ensure soybean farmers are represented before decisions are finalized, not afterward.
Behind every policy success are months of preparation, technical analysis, coalition building, and countless conversations with policymakers, agency staff, researchers, industry leaders, and farmer advocates. Much of this work occurs long before public announcements are made, quietly laying the foundation for future victories. Farmer leadership remains at the center of every effort. ASA’s farmer leaders continue to bring firsthand production experience into policy discussions, helping decision-makers understand how regulatory choices affect farms, rural communities, domestic manufacturing, energy security, and consumers alike. Their authentic perspective remains one of ASA’s greatest strengths.
Looking Ahead
The momentum is unmistakable. Across the United States and around the world, governments are developing the next generation of clean fuel policies. Biomass-based diesel continues to grow. Sustainable aviation fuel and the maritime sector are creating new opportunities. States continue exploring lower-carbon transportation strategies while international markets refine sustainability standards that will shape future trade. The work is far from finished, but the recent successes demonstrate what is possible when soybean farmers invest in long-term engagement rather than short-term reactions.
Through the BBDI, ASA has built a durable platform that combines strategic advocacy, coalition building, technical expertise, and farmer leadership to advance policies that strengthen demand for U.S. soy. Our responsibility isn’t simply to respond to policy. It is to help shape it before decisions are made. When soybean farmers are engaged early, armed with sound science, and working together, we create lasting opportunities for agriculture.
Every bushel begins on a farm. Increasingly, its future is also shaped in committee rooms, regulatory agencies, state capitals, and international forums. ASA is ensuring soybean farmers have a seat at every one of those tables, protecting today’s markets while creating the opportunities that will drive demand for generations to come. The recent successes in California, Europe, and across the states demonstrate that when farmer leadership, sound science, and strategic partnerships come together, meaningful policy outcomes follow. Through the Biomass-Based Diesel Initiative, ASA isn’t simply responding to change, it is helping shape the future of soy-based biofuels and creating lasting value for U.S. soybean farmers.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- Expanded ASA biofuels advocacy from 2 to 15 jurisdictions over the past year
- 77 ASA and state soybean association policy engagement letters across 9 jurisdictions
- Launched the inaugural BBDI newsletter to enhance stakeholder communications and elevate soy-based biofuels advocacy
- Continued building numerous strategic partnerships to protect and expand market opportunities for U.S. soybean oil in state, federal, and international clean fuels policies
The post Building Markets Beyond the Farm: How the Biomass-Based Diesel Initiative is Delivering Results for U.S. Soybean Farmers appeared first on American Soybean Association.
