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RVO’s & exemption questions throttling soy crush
The president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) says enough uncertainty remains in the biofuels industry to keep the nation’s soy crush plants from operating at full capacity.
Devin Mogler says crush is up from the lows experienced earlier this year, but…
“We’re kind of hanging in there around 80% utilization.” He says, “We’ve got new plants still coming online. Unfortunately, we’ve had some that have shut down. I think the challenge is still in the renewable diesel and biodiesel margin.”
He tells Brownfield that while recent Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO’s) targets are promising, there’s still work to be done.
“But there’s still the small refinery exemptions that are hanging out there.” He says, “Over 190 of them now, and how the EPA deals with those will truly impact that top line number. So, what looks like a good number right now could come down.”
Mogler says NOPA believes the exemptions should not be granted as refineries have had twenty years to comply with the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“There’s still some out there who have not, for whatever reason, and are still asking for these small refinery exemptions.” He says, “If those are granted, and those gallons are not accounted for in the top line volume, it has the effect of lowering the RVO and harming farmers and biofuel producers.”
He says a decision on the final RVO’s is expected this fall.
Brownfield spoke with Mogler at the recent 2025 No Bull AgriNext Conference in St. Louis.
AUDIO: Devin Mogler – NOPA
I thought the US was running at record crush rates. The U.S. soybean crush is forecast to reach a record high of 2.49 billion bushels for the 2025/26 marketing year.