Conservation Corner: Explore Your Farm’s CI Score

What could your farm’s carbon intensity (CI) score look like and how much difference could a practice actually make?

IL Corn released a new tool to help Illinois farmers explore those questions. The tool uses the approved USDA FD-CIC Feedstock Calculator and its underlying calculations, but puts a more visual “skin” around the information. An interactive map allows farmers to see how geography and different practices can change CI scores across Illinois.

The darker the green, the lower and better the CI score.

A Few Calculator Reminders

The USDA Feedstock Calculator has a few important details to keep in mind:

• Scoring is field level. Different fields on the same farm can have different CI scores.
• Actual and expected yields are used. Expected yield provides a backstop when weather or other unforeseen circumstances hurt actual production.

• All nitrogen counts. Total actual nitrogen use includes N contained in products like MAP, DAP and MESZ, not just your primary nitrogen applications.
• Tillage is measured using T-DISC. To claim no-till, you must commit to no-till four out of five years. Tillage is evaluated by “tillage windows,” and your most intensive window determines your overall T-DISC score.

Why Does Location Matter?

When you click on a county, you may see several counties or areas highlighted together. This reflects the underlying Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) used by USDA. MLRAs group areas with similar soil and other natural-resource characteristics where carbon accumulation is expected to respond similarly.

That means the same practice can have a different modeled impact depending on where you farm. We've seen, for example, cover crops generally have greater CI benefits farther south, where they have more time to establish, while no-till benefits tend to increase farther north.

A Tool for Exploring Not Certification

This tool is for informational purposes only. Farmers should work directly with their biofuel producer to determine their official CI score, although results using the same information should be relatively close.

Remember, the 45Z tax credit resides with the biofuel producer, and each plant will determine how much of that value, if any, is passed back to the farmer.

Chain of custody also remains mass balance, meaning your grain must ultimately be delivered to the biofuel producer claiming the value, either directly or through an elevator supplying that facility.

IL Corn continues to advocate for Book & Claim, which would separate the environmental attribute from the physical bushel. This could allow more farmers to participate while creating greater transparency around what that lower-CI attribute is actually worth.

Use the tool to run scenarios, compare practices and understand what moves your CI score but make sure any practice changes still make agronomic and economic sense for your farm.