The USDA on June 3 announced it has distributed a combined $700 million in COVID-19 aid to 195 biofuel production facilities. Moe than $486 million of that aid was awarded to 62 producers located in socially vulnerable communities.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to rebuilding the rural economy after the impacts of the pandemic,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “That’s why USDA is targeting resources and investments to improve the strength and resiliency of America’s sustainable fuel markets. The investments we’re announcing today will pave the way to economic recovery for America’s biofuel producers, stimulate a critical market for U.S. farmers and ranchers, and support our nation’s transition to a clean-energy economy.”

The USDA in June 2021 first announced plans to award the $700 million in COVID-19 relief funds to biofuels producers as part of the agency’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative.

The $700 million was awarded through the USDA’s Biofuel Producer Program, which was announced in December 2021. The program was designed to provide direct payments to biofuel producers who experienced unexpected market losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications for the program were due in February.

In a statement released on June 3, the USDA indicated that payments made through the program support the maintenance and viability of a significant market for agricultural producers of products such as corn, soybeans or biomass that supply biofuel production. The agency said these biofuel producers experienced unexpected market losses on a combined 3.7 billion gallons as a result of the pandemic.

According to the USDA, the payments are supporting biofuel producers located in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The agency did not release a full list of awardees, but offered several examples of payments made through the program. Iowa-based ethanol producer Southwest Renewable Energy LLC was awarded $3 million for its 14.3 million gallon market loss, while Illinois-based biodiesel producer Adkins Energy is receiving $774,000 for its 3.5 million gallon market loss. In Texas, White Energy Holding Co. is receiving $21 million for its two facilities, which suffered a combined market loss of 98 million gallons.

Growth Energy has spoken out to thank Vilsack for delivering on biofuel producer assistance. “We are grateful to Secretary Tom Vilsack for seeing the Biofuel Producer Assistance program through from start to finish and ensuring biofuels producers receive the pandemic assistance they were promised at the height of the pandemic,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. “Biofuels producers were some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and, like many industries across the country, continue to feel the economic ripple effects like delayed supply chains and high supply costs. To address these issues, producers were allocated assistance almost two years ago to keep the industry online, and we thank Secretary Vilsack today for getting that assistance directly to those who needed it most.”