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MSU anaerobic digestion expert weighs in on USDA funding pause

The USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Services administrator has paused biodigester and controlled environmental agriculture project approvals as part of an internal review.

Michigan State University Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center Director Wei Liao tells Brownfield the pause should allow USDA to question how projects align with their original intent.

“This type of collaboration, funding support, this partnership between industry and academia, even between agriculture and academia, really help our rural communities,” he says.

An internal review found 27 percent of USDA anaerobic biodigesters loans and 43 percent of controlled environment agriculture projects, like vertical farming or hydroponics, are delinquent on $237.6 million in loans.

Weeks prior to the announced pause, a coalition of 34 environmental organizations filed a rule-making petition calling for the USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service to make large-scale livestock manure digesters ineligible for funding under the Rural Energy America Program.

The petitioners argue manure digester projects have received nearly three times more in loan guarantees for solar projects but deliver far less energy on the taxpayer’s dollar.

Liao says broad conclusions oversimplify systems-level issues. 

“This type of technology, we know the rural operations, each farm, has its own conditions,” he shares. “Really, it’s site-specific or community-specific.”

Liao also says digesters alone do not comprehensively address other challenges like nutrient run-off or water quality concerns.

Earth Justice has also filed a lawsuit against the USDA for withholding public records that detail the agency’s decision to fund related REAP projects.