Ag economists warn a boom in demand for renewable diesel could actually cause trouble for the global food supply chain.
According to Ag Resource, a rise in brand-new renewable diesel production facilities could cause a sharp rise in demand for soybean oil. They say state-offered incentives are the reason new plants are coming online so quickly, but we would have to find 9 million additional acres to grow the soybeans required to meet demand all within the next two years.
They warn the U.S. has already reached peak capacity for farmland with the only other option being to take land from the Conservation Reserve Program.
