Low-Carbon Fertilizer Hits the Field

CF Industries and POET launch traceable low-carbon ammonia supply chain across Midwest corn and ethanol markets

24 Mar 2026

CF Industries and POET announced in January the launch of a pilot to build the United States' first fully traceable low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer supply chain, linking ammonia production in Louisiana to corn growers across the Midwest and into biofuel output.

The ammonia originates at CF Industries' Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana, where carbon dioxide from the production process is captured and stored underground. It is then distributed through agricultural cooperatives, including WinField United, a Land O'Lakes division, to corn growers in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. POET processes the resulting harvests into ethanol at facilities across the region.

The scale is notable. At full capacity, the Donaldsonville facility can produce up to 1.9 million tons of low-carbon ammonia annually, sufficient to cover fertilizer requirements for up to 22 million acres of corn. The pilot crop is expected to yield approximately 5 to 6 million gallons of lower-carbon ethanol, establishing a certification framework ahead of any broader rollout.

The first ammonia applications were completed in autumn 2025, making the supply chain operational rather than aspirational.

"Fertilizers manufactured with a lower carbon intensity provide a quantifiable and certifiable method of decarbonizing bioethanol inputs," said Bert Frost, chief commercial officer at CF Industries. POET's Christian McIlvain said the pilot opens a new pathway to reduce bioethanol carbon intensity while delivering economic benefits for rural communities.

Demand for lower-carbon ethanol is rising as fuel standards tighten across US and global markets. The ability to certify reduced-carbon inputs from the field upward carries direct commercial value for both farmers and fuel producers. Whether the methodology developed in this pilot can scale efficiently across a fragmented agricultural landscape remains the key question for the initiative's next phase.