USDA FD-CIC and T-DISC FAQs

The following questions are frequently asked questions related to the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA FD-CIC) and the Tillage Disturbance Index for Soil Carbon (T-DISC) tool. These FAQs are to provide general information but do not address any particular set of facts or circumstances, and they may be updated or modified upon further review. Additionally, USDA has published user guides for both USDA FD-CIC (PDF, 879 KB) and T-DISC (PDF, 551 KB) that can be referenced for information on how to use each tool.

USDA FD-CIC FAQs:

How should growers handle fields that cross county lines?: Because the impacts of practices can vary by county, acreage from different counties must be entered into the USDA FD-CIC calculator separately as different management units in the calculation of CI scores.
Can farmers still participate in existing USDA programs like Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) while also participating as a regenerative biofuel feedstock provider? : There is nothing in USDA’s Final Rule that prohibits participation in USDA programs like EQIP and CSP.
Which specific products count as nitrification inhibitors under USDA FD-CIC?: 7 CFR 2100.061 of the Final Rule defines Nitrification Inhibitors: “Nitrification inhibitors must be defined by the Association of American Plant Food Control Officers (AAPFCO) and be accepted for use by the State fertilizer control official, or similar authority, with responsibility for verification of product guarantees, ingredients (by AAPFCO definition), and label claims.”

T-DISC FAQs:

How should growers handle cases where a field cultivator or other implement is used to smooth small portions of a field before planting—i.e. areas disturbed by pivot sprayer tracks, end rows, or field entrances?

A management unit in the Final Rule is defined as a “field, group of fields, or other land units of the same land use and having the same management.” Thus, if the use of tillage on a portion of the field results in a different tillage designation from the remainder of the field, that field should be split into two distinct management units. For example, if additional tillage on a portion of a field results in a Reduced Till designation for that portion of the field, while the remainder of the field has a No Till designation (or any other split across tillage designations) then that field should be entered into the USDA FD-CIC calculator as two different management units with different T-DISC tillage schedules leading to different conservation tillage designations. If the management schedules on the two portions of the field are different but lead to the same tillage designation (e.g. Reduced Till), then for the purposes of USDA FD-CIC, the entire field has the same management and can be entered as a single management unit. In both cases, both T-DISC schedules and their resulting conservation tillage designations should be maintained for documentation in the case of audit.

What are the base implement configurations for the planting implements in T-DISC?

In T-DISC, planter implements consist of the following combinations of row units:

Planter, No-till:

Row cleaner and/or residue cutting coulter with minimal soil disturbance
Double disc openers
Seed delivery mechanism
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, Regular:

Double disc openers
Seed delivery mechanism
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, Lister-Bedder:

Heavy duty v-shaped plows to carve furrows and raise ridges
Seed delivery mechanism
Covering discs
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, Strip Till:

Row cleaner and/or residue cutting coulter with minimal soil disturbance
Double disc openers
Seed delivery mechanism
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, Ridge Till:

Sweep, horizontal disc, or set of disc furrowers to prepare top of ridge
Guiding wheels or coulters
Seed delivery mechanism
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, Inter-/Overseeder:

Double disk openers
Seed delivery mechanism
Seed press wheel

Planter, Air Delivery:

Single disc or knife opener
Air delivery mechanism
Seed press wheel

Planter, drill, air delivery:

Single disc or knife opener
Air delivery drill
Seed press wheel

Planter, drill, disc grain:

Single or double disc opener
Seed delivery drill
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, drill, lister:

Double plow to carve a trench
Single or double disc opener
Seed delivery drill
Covering or closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planter, drill, no-till/min till:

Row cleaner or residue cutting coulter with minimal soil disturbance
Double disc openers
Seed delivery drill
Closing wheels or discs and/or seed press or chains

Planters using additional row units with higher tillage intensity must account for the additional intensity by including additional implements in T-DISC’s management schedule. For instance:

When a planter/drill/air seeder involves aggressive row preparation, such as aggressive coulters/discs, sweeps, or strip-conditioning attachments, the T-DISC operation could map to “Planter, Regular plus Harrow, Disk, Tandem, Light Duty”.
When a planter/drill/air seeder involves deep soil disturbance from a shank, knife, subsoiler or similar attachment, the T-DISC operation could map to “Planter, Regular plus Harrow, Disk, Tandem, Heavy Duty”.