By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — First-term U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) addressed a hometown crowd of approximately 80 Peoria County Farm Bureau members after a March 30 breakfast, telling his 18th district constituents that USDA-backed crop insurance for pennycress producers is on the way.

Schock also addressed developments in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), foreign trade policy and legislation he’s sponsoring that would allow a zero percent federal tax rate for the development of new renewable fuels.

“When I met with the USDA in Washington and said I would like to find a crop insurance for pennycress, they said, ‘Why do you want to insure stinkweed?’ There are people all over the country trying to kill the stuff,” Schock said.

He elicited laughter and bemused shrugs from farmers in attendance, most of whom were well aware of the groundbreaking pennycress research that has been taking place the last few years just across the road from the Farm Bureau Auditorium at the USDA’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR).

NCAUR’s research has revealed, among other things, that crushed pennycress pods possess just over twice the amount of oil than soybean pods, and that while soybeans can produce an average of 59 gallons of biofuel per acre, pennycress can produce as much as 115. Researchers and proponents tout the former nuisance plant as a winter crop that quickly matures in early spring, allowing it to not interfere with normal crop rotation.

In nearby Mapleton, Ill., a biofuel production facility will soon be opening with plans to become the first to market fuel produced from pennycress. Schock is hoping the USDA’s help in providing crop insurance for pennycress producers will drive more area farmers to grow the crop and sell their harvests to the new facility.
“But farmers won’t want to plant it if they can’t insure their investment, and typical insurers require some actuarial calculations of how much is grown, the price for the crop, and so on. The USDA has a ‘new crops’ insurance plan, and they’ve agreed to work with us to develop a policy,” said Schock.

“I think this is an exciting revelation for our area.”

In addition, he is introducing legislation in Congress that would establish a zero federal tax rate on new forms of renewable energy, a measure that could potentially benefit BioFuels Manufacturers of Illinois, owner of the $40 million plant being built in Mapleton.
“I can’t think of a greater driver than to establish a zero percent tax for 15 to 20 years on every new invention of renewable energy,” said Schock. “

That would create a huge capital drive in the private market, putting private dollars – your investment dollars – into that new technology.”

Schock said his proposal is enjoying “very good bipartisan support,” though the measure is not without its detractors.