Chris Abbott, CEO of Pivot Bio, one of the world’s leading innovative agtech companies, today provided comments during the IRS public hearing on proposed regulations under the Section 45Z clean fuel production tax credit.
Abbott emphasized that the current conflict in Iran and resulting disruption to the Strait of Hormuz have underscored how vulnerable U.S. farmers remain to foreign fertilizer supply chains and global market volatility.
“This is not a temporary disruption,” Abbott said. “Researchers at Purdue University and the University of Illinois have both concluded that even after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, it will take months to normalize the fertilizer supply chain and that the 2027 crop year may be even more severely affected than 2026. A survey of corn growers found that for every farmer worried about fertilizer for 2026, nearly two are more worried about 2027.
“The lesson of this crisis is not complicated: when American farmers depend on foreign supply chains for a critical input, they are vulnerable. And right now, they are paying the price,” Abbott continued.
Abbott pointed to biological nitrogen fertilizers, including Pivot Bio’s crop nutrition solutions for corn, cotton, sorghum and small cereal grains, as a commercially available domestic alternative that can help reduce growers’ reliance on imported synthetic fertilizer.
“Biological fertilizers are not a niche product or a future technology. They are a proven, commercially available, domestically produced alternative to imported synthetic nitrogen, and they are available right now, when farmers need them most.
“Section 45Z creates a meaningful incentive for the production of clean transportation fuels,” Abbott said. “The on-farm practices farmers use directly affect the carbon intensity of the feedstock, and therefore the value of the 45Z credit to the fuel producer. Biological Nitrogen Management, the use of nitrogen-fixing microbial products like those Pivot Bio produces, is one of those practices. These products reduce farmers’ reliance on synthetic nitrogen, improve yields, and keep dollars in the domestic economy rather than sending them to foreign fertilizer producers.”
Abbott closed by emphasizing the importance of strengthening domestic agricultural innovation and recognizing on-farm practices that improve supply chain resilience. “When those supply chains break, as some have broken this spring, farmers have few alternatives, and the consequences ripple through the entire food system. We must use all the tools available to us now to prevent similar disruptions in the future.
“The answer to that vulnerability is domestic innovation. It is U.S. companies like Pivot Bio who are creating real and meaningful solutions through novel Biological Nutrient Management technologies, manufacturing domestically, shipping to farmers within 24 hours and lowering prices when the rest of the market is raising them. It is a regulatory framework that recognizes and rewards the on-farm practices that reduce dependence on foreign inputs and improve the resilience of American agriculture. Section 45Z is one piece of that framework.”
As policymakers finalize implementation of the 45Z clean fuel production credit, Abbott’s remarks reinforced Pivot Bio’s position that Biological Nitrogen Management should be recognized within the 45Z framework as a proven on-farm practice that supports both farm profitability and domestic supply chain resilience.
About Pivot Bio
Pivot Bio, one of the world’s leading agtech companies, delivers patented crop nutrition technologies that harness the power of nature to help farmers reliably and productively grow the food the world needs in the face of increasing volatility. Currently available in North America and soon in Brazil, the company’s products represent a breakthrough innovation and one of the agriculture industry’s most promising solutions. Pivot Bio has been recognized three times by TIME magazine on its annual list of Best Inventions, by Fast Company on its World Changing Ideas and World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies lists, by CNBC on its Disruptor 50 list, by Fortune on its Impact 20 list, and by MIT Technology Review as one of 15 climate tech companies to watch. For more information, visit PivotBio.com.
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