Ag equipment has been running on biodiesel during the Farm Progress Show for a number of years, but this year is the first year machinery will be operating on a B20 blend at the show. Growmark is this year’s official Farm Progress Show fuel sponsor. Mark Dehner, Marketing Manger Refined and Renewable Fuels for Growmark, says the company is using a B20 blend of biodiesel at this year’s event to showcase the value of alternative fuels for farmers nationwide. It’s simple economics he says. Biodiesel generates more use and demand for energy crops, particularly soybeans. And that, he says, means added value for the farmers. Plus, Mark points out that manufacturers are making more equipment that’s compatible with biodiesel blends.
“We’re seeing more and more engine manufacturers endorse a B20 blend of biodiesel,” Mark said.
I spoke Mark about why Growmark believes biodiesel is an important fueling resource for farmers. You can listen to my interview with Mark here:
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We like to pack as much into a trip as we can, so this morning we left Tampa early to get to Orlando for the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit where Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer was speaking.
I got a chance to sit down with him and chat for a few minutes, and since this was mainly for programs I produce for Southeast AgNet, the questions all centered around Florida agriculture. We only had a few minutes and he had already hit on every other topic from energy to the Farm Bill to trade in his remarks. Schafer made a couple of other Florida stops after Orlando - in Gainesville and Jacksonville - so I asked him about that.
It was nice to finally get to meet the Secretary since Chuck has already had that pleasure a few times. Being at the summit also allowed us to gather content for Domestic Fuel and cover the meeting for another client, the Renewable Fuels Association. RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen addressed the group and I will be using some of the audio we gathered here to do a podcast for them. So, we killed quite a few birds with this one trip!
Listen to my interview with Secretary Schafer here:
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Cindy and I got up early this morning and left Tampa for Orlando where we’re attending the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit. I think this is the third one.
We missed our old friend Charlie Bronson, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, although he’ll be here later this afternoon. We did see him on video though.
Right now our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, is speaking. I’ll add a link to some audio after his remarks and press availability. The Secretary is here to speak on Food, Conservation and the Energy Act of 2008.
I’ll be traveling home later today but we’re getting to spend the morning here which is when all the very important people are speaking anyway.
A new group with some significant resources has jumped head first into the food and fuel debate. Members include the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company, DuPont, John Deere, Monsanto, and the Renewable Fuels Association.
The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy brings together a broad group of visionary companies and organizations committed to sustainably and responsibly improving diets and reducing dependence on fossil fuels through agricultural productivity worldwide.
What We Stand For
* We are optimistic about global agriculture and its ability to meet growing demand for food, feed, fuel and fiber.
* We are confident in the ability of farmers in America and throughout the world to increase productivity to meet these vital needs in a sustainable manner.
* We believe that both food and energy are fundamental human needs and we embrace actions and innovations that strengthen agriculture’s ability to produce both. We reject the falsity of “either/or” choices.
* We recognize the vital role biofuels play as an important alternative to petroleum-based transportation fuels today.
* We are committed to the sustainable, responsible development of biofuel in the U.S. and throughout the world, without prejudice to feedstock, manufacturing process or final product.
* We encourage the acceptance of technologies as they become commercially viable and scalable, towards our goal of continually improving the environmental and economic benefit of biofuels.
What We Do
Through credible, fact- and science-based education, information and advocacy, we advance support for agricultural solutions today, while building understanding of agriculture’s ability to fulfill the promise of improved diets and better fuels into the future.
The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy brings together a broad group of visionary companies and organizations committed to sustainably and responsibly improving diets and reducing dependence on fossil fuels through agricultural productivity worldwide. More information can be found online, at www.foodandenergy.org.
Investment in Africa is spurring economic innovation and growth throughout the continent. There’s no question about that for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.
“Make no mistake about it,” Schafer said. “Investment in agriculture, investment in the structure of agriculture to move food to the market, is an investment in Africa’s future.”
Schafer urged private sector investors to build stronger partners and markets in Africa at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum Friday. The ag secretary said in order to truly develop a successful farm to market infrastructure in Africa, the private sector must get involved. Schafer pointed out that much of Africa lacks the basic fundamentals needed for thriving agriculture markets. He said things as simple as storage, refrigeration, a consistent supply of electricity, expertise in where to sell and how to sell simply don’t exist in many African regions. (more…)
Changing the African vision from one of short-term pay-offs to that of long-term success was one of the key issues for panelists at the “Education and Knowledge Building in Animal Agriculture” breakout session. The session was one of fifteen being offered at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. The workshop, sponsored by Novus International, featured a panel of experts that addressed the needs and means for improving education and first-hand know-how for creating “robust agribusiness value-chains” throughout Africa.
And, robust agribusiness in Africa is a very real possibility offering real opportunities if you ask Dr. Jerry Nelson. Jerry is a professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as the panel moderator.
“Africa probably has the most agricultural potential than anywhere we’re looking at right now,” Jerry said.
Thad Simons, the president and CEO of Novus International highlighted the ultimate goal: “providing safe and secure food all over the world.” He added that performance and sustainability were critical for realizing that goal.
The panelists looked at how to drive that performance and sustainability in Africa. Sergio Beliver, sales manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East at Novus International, stressed the importance of education. He said Africans need to be educated not only in the processes, management and technology needed for modernizing Africa’s agricultural industry but also in long-term vision. He says farmers need to be taught to recognize the value in a more secure future instead of looking for quick pay-offs in the present. That’s something Dave Harlan, director of Global Animal Health & Food Safety at Cargill Inc. also stressed.
“It’s not about capturing a high price, but locking in a price that people can live on,” Dave said.
Dr. Shaukat Ali Abdulrazak, secretary National Council for Science and Technology in Kenya, also echoed Sergio’s call for more education. Shaukat said his country needs personnel that is both educated and trained in modern farming techniques, management and the development of necessary infrastructure. He conceded that one major challenge is “short-sighted politicians” who only consider programs that fall within the parameters of the term they serve in parliament. He says politicians in Kenya tend to have an agenda that expire when their term expires.
But, Shaukat says Kenya does have government initiatives and national development plans that should attract investors. He stressed that leaders in the public and private sectors of both the U.S. and Africa need to work together to build off of the positives that already exist. Shaukat says leaders and experts need to “make lemonade out of the lemons we have.”
Tasir Olawale Raji, the permanent secretary with Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, agreed. He said its crucial for African countries to move with other developing countries throughout the world, so Africa won’t be left behind. And, to do that, Tasir said leaders and experts need to focus on those that are already on the job in Africa, building upon “already acquired experience.”
Jerry highlighted the critical agricultural “lemons” so-to-speak that countries throughout Africa need to work on including land, water, electricity, energy and marketing. Jerry said African countries must develop the needed infrastructures and the continent’s agricultural industries must exists within those infrastructures. The continent should work as a larger unit to develop a strategy planning mission with each country, Jerry said, offering its own unique approach and contribution.
The entire panel discussion is available here on AgWired.com. You can listen to the discussion in two parts here:
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On the subject of locating a biorefinery we had another presentation on the subject here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. This one was by David Perkis, Purdue University.
He says the purpose of his work is to answer questions that local decision makers have such as, Where to locate plants?, What do we have to prepare for?, What can we do to entice a plant to our area? and Do we have a chance? He says that factors in having an optimal location for an ethanol plant is access to sufficient corn stover and transportation distances.
You can listen to my interview with David here:
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Besides those out working in the industry we also heard from some university students today at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. Lance Andrew Stewart is a grad student at the University of Tennessee. He did a very technical presentation on locating ethanol plants.
His work focused on the location determinants that attract potential plants in certain areas. He says that factors include, access to feedstocks like corn and locating away from an existing plant. He also made a point of saying that although plants can be very helpful to a rural community they must have enough infrastructure to support one.
You can listen to my interview with Lance here:
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We had USDA Rural Development represented here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference by Tony Crooks. He works with their rural business cooperatives program and has done a lot of work with communities in the area of ethanol and biodiesel.
The challenge he says we have today in rural communities is the large capital outlay to get a biorefinery started so USDA is looking at creative ways to help them. He highly suggests that a community have a community development plan so they can better decide if a plant would be in their best interest. Ways that USDA Rural Development can help is with grants and guaranteed loans. He says they’re looking for communities who need financial assistance, especially in the second generation cellulosic area.
You can listen to my interview with Tony here:
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Our luncheon speaker today was Paul Willems who works for BP Energy Biosciences Institute. He says it’s a collaboration between the University of California, Berkely, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois and BP.
Paul says that their mission is to apply modern biology towards energy problems. The Institute was started in November of 2007 and is currently almost 70 percent staffed. They’ve already committed funding to about 50 projects and programs. Some examples of these programs include feedstock research and the discovery of new enzymes.
One of Paul’s key messages was not to get carried away with problems since solutions will take a while to achieve.
You can listen to my interview with Paul here:
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Two key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels.
Our presenter was Gordon Rausser, University of California, Berkeley, who was here with his assistant Maya Papineau. I interviewed them both together after the presentation. Gordon says that we should be looking at R&D risk as a portfolio of opportunities. He says we should be managing the overall risk by recognizing the inter-relationships among the technologies and their ultimate commercialization. He also says that stand alone analysis will miss much of the opportunities that will arise.
When it comes to flexibility he suggests giving yourself options so that you can take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. He says that current ethanol plants are vulnerable going forward since they don’t have the flexibility to move to different feedstocks.
Maya talked about probably breakthroughs in renewable energy technology. She says that it’s important for how you use public and private R&D resources to maximize the investment.
You can listen to my interview with Gordon and Maya here:
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The second session here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference was on risk and uncertainty.
Jim Larson, University of Tennessee, talked about farmers risk in growing switchgrass as a biomass feedstock for fuel production. He says that this is a commodity that will come into play looking forward. His research shows that it’s risky for farmers because it’s difficult to establish and takes several years to get to full yield. He thinks that farmers will need incentives from biomass processors to get started.
Harvesting this crop is also risky since you have to deal with large amounts of material that’s subject to weather and storage concerns. Some ways to help with risk would be contracting and price guarantees.
You can listen to my interview with Jim here:
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One of our speakers here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference brought the discussion down to the farm level. John Miranowski, Iowa State University, spoke about the impact of biofuels on the rural economy and the farm structure.
He says that their numbers indicate that increasing biofuels production will have a positive impact on rural communities and farm structure up to a point but that it could have some negative impacts. One thing is certain, he sees an uncertain future for biofuels.
However, even with the uncertainty, he thinks the industry will make a go of it because of an increased demand for fuel. As far as where we’re going, he sees a bigger role for corn and corn stover fuels given the RFS and that this is one area where we have an ability to increase productivity while decreasing environmental impact concerns.
You can listen to my interview with John here:
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Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.
His talk was on the distributional effects of biofeuls and he had two conclusions. The first one is that biofuels make some people better off and some people worse off. Drivers are better off since they’re getting their fuel for about 15 cents less than if it didn’t have biofuels in it but consumers of food are worse off since the price of food is higher. He says that’s worse in developing countries where they’re seeing food prices 20 to 40 percent higher. This situation he says is causing political instability which will become an obstacle to the development of biofuels.
His second conclusion is that we have to increase productivity. He says that if we don’t we’re in real trouble. In order to increase agricultural productivity he says we must use biotechnology in all crops.
You can listen to my interview with David here:
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I finally got to meet the Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan was on hand at the Kum & Go pump promotion and posed here with the Highway Patrolmen who helped us with security and traffic and other drivers. He’s the tall guy on the left. Cindy and Laura have already had a chance to meet him. This is my first Indy race of the year though.
Ryan says the Iowa race is very important, especially due to the connection to the corn growers here in the state. He says he’s learned so much from working with people in the ethanol industry, especially how it’s a real part of the solution to our energy crisis.
You can listen to my interview with Ryan here:
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Biofuels have been making headlines all over the place lately. I’m sure the weather in the central United States is going to continue to fuel the issue. It’s also taking us out on the road a bit this month. Cindy’s at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop and later this week I’ll be at the Iowa Indy Corn 250.
You may not be familiar with Farm Foundation or this series of programs they’ve been hosting on the subject of a Bio Economy. To learn more myself, I spoke with Foundation Vice President, Steve Halbrook, pictured. He says that Farm Foundation is a non profit organization that works in agricultural and rural policy issues. They bring together industry, government and academic leaders to focus on the challenges facing our food system and rural communities.
Steve says this event will have a special focus on biofuels since it affects all facets of ag and rural areas, especially ethanol in the mid west. He says that leaders from several government agencies, including USDA, approached them hoping that the Foundation could help them better understand this issue.
The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. In the spirit of “bio” I chose “Biodiesel Willie” from 2012AM. I’ve played it before but I really like it in all the versions I’ve heard it, including live. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 175 (21 min MP3)
Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:
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The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes
Cindy is attending this week’s Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Nashville, TN and will be primarily posting onto Domestic Fuel. I think she’s in the process of uploading some photos as we speak. This one is from when she attended LifeLine Foods opening last fall. I thought it was appropriate in light of this announcement from ICM, Inc. This is exactly the kind of thing we can expect if all the whacko food vs. fuel folks will allow us to use good old American ingenuity to solve our dependence on foreign oil problem. Lifeline is a working plant that partnered with ICM for the technology they’re using.
ICM, Inc. today announced that ethanol biorefineries investing in the company’s new, proprietary and innovative technology before the end of this year, will be capable of commercially producing both food and fuel in 2010. The announcement was made during ICM’s customer meeting at the annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) in Nashville, Tenn.
“We are talking about the ‘ethanol biorefinery of the future’…and very near future at that,” said Dave Vander Griend, founder, president and CEO. “Fifty years ago, the U.S. fed the world. We will be able to do that again with a food supply brought about by the evolution of ethanol production.”
Since the company’s founding, ICM’s mission has been to sustain agriculture through innovation. Recently, the company’s mission expanded to researching ways to deliver much-needed protein to the world, by way of ethanol processing. At the same time, the corn-to-ethanol industry is maturing, and a changing economic outlook is prompting existing biorefineries to explore means of maintaining financial success in challenging tight-ethanol, high-corn price markets. ICM recognized this changing outlook and is delivering on its mission by developing technology to create “new renewables” that can be built upon the existing ethanol biorefinery – the key facilitator of the new technology is a process called dry fractionation.
As if we didn’t have enough confusion about the whole food and fuel issue, now we’ve got a new “coalition” with an agenda and a website. There’s a built in blog with no posts too. I really recommend posting on your blog if you want anyone to visit it and if you want any credibility. This one is called Food Before Fuel.
Today, the Food Before Fuel Campaign - a partnership of more than 20 environmental, retail, hunger, Hispanic and food industry groups - launched a cooperative effort urging Congress to revisit the nation’s food-to-fuel policies, a key factor in the growing global food crisis.
I’ve got to say that as soon as I saw the Grocery Manufacturing Association on there it lost my interest. They’re the group that was caught spending a ton of money hiring a PR firm to smear ethanol. I’m also surprised to see NCBA on the list. The poultry people and AMI have been pretty outspoken on this issue but you don’t see the pork industry represented. You just have to chuckle about the tortilla group involvement.
Cindy participated in a so-called press conference with GMA recently and any farm journalist, regardless of bias, could clearly hear the lies they told. Ask her about it sometime or read a post she did about it on Corn Commentary.
We’re very open about our relationship with organizations involved in ethanol and biodiesel production so I’m sure I have a bias. However, I’ve had a lot of chance to see the facts from many different studies. The bottom line is that our biofuels policy in this country isn’t taking food out of anyone’s mouths. The higher price of corn has contributed in a very small way to food cost increases, but no where near what has been claimed. Although I don’t advocate changing the RFS for example, eliminating it wouldn’t solve anything. The main culprit is the price of oil which we’re allowing other countries to hammer us with. That is taking food out of people’s mouths. And unless we want to be owned by countries who hate us, we need to develop alternative fuel sources here at home of all kinds.
Swine Summit attendees can look forward to playing a game of P-I-G and 3-point with members of the Iowa Energy D-League NBA team organization this year. Of course, the summit will be getting down to business too with a host of speakers that will focus on “Netting More Energy” in pork production.
Kemin Industries Inc. will host swine veterinarians, nutritionists and decision makers at its second annual swine summit in Des Moines, IA, June 4, 2008, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The focus of the 2008 swine summit is “Netting More Energy”.
Speakers Clifford Adams, Ph.D., Ruurd Zijlstra, Ph.D., Joseph Hahn, Ph.D., and David Meeker, Ph.D., will discuss net energy formulation, how to evaluate new high energy feedstuff options, what options are available, and how to extract more energy with nutricines such as enzymes.
P-I-G and 3-point will follow the summit in Kemin’s Got Game?!” reception in the 4-H building on the fairgrounds.
This is just too good to pass on letting you in on it. Carbon Belch Day. I love it. I know you may think it’s a little over the top but then how would you describe what the whacko climate change alarmists, who’s real goal is to control society, are doing? Let’s have a little bit of balance. One of the things I like best on their site is that you can buy “Carbon Debits.” I’m sure they’ll do as much good as carbon credits. Why Carbon Belch?
In this world of carbon credits and endless “Green” propaganda, why would we encourage tens of thousands of people to increase their CO2 output on Carbon Belch Day?
Because Al Gore’s “planetary emergency” is a bunch of hot air…
Because shrinking your “carbon footprint” is not going to save the world from doom…
Because CO2 isn’t even a pollutant — life needs CO2…
Because energy is the fuel of human progress and man is not the “bad guy”…
Because the real “planetary emergency” is the coming $1.2 trillion Carbon Tax…
And because it’s fun and your Carbon Belch might actually do some good!
Being fueled by GrassFire.org. Thanks to Laura for bringing it to my attention. I’m definitely going to grill some beef that day and schedule my neighbor kid to mow my lawn.
The Farm Progress Show is underway and the weather is beautiful. Chuck and Laura will be contributing to the photo album this week.
Aggie Lancer
Laura McNamara interviewed Aggie-Lance creator and founder, Mark Jewell.
They talk about the new company and what Mark's trying to do which includes providing an online opportunity for companies to connect with free lancers.
Ag equipment has been running on biodiesel during the Farm Progress Show for a number of years, but this year is the first year machinery will be operating on a B20 blend at the show. Growmark is this year’s official Farm Progress Show fuel sponsor. Mark Dehner, Marketing Manger Refined and Renewable Fuels for Growmark, says the company is using a B20 blend of biodiesel at this year’s event to showcase the value of alternative fuels for farmers nationwide. It’s simple economics he says. Biodiesel generates more use and demand for energy crops, particularly soybeans. And that, he says, means added value for the farmers. Plus, Mark points out that manufacturers are making more equipment that’s compatible with biodiesel blends.
and 
I got a chance to sit down with him and chat for a few minutes, and since this was mainly for programs I produce for 
Cindy and I got up early this morning and left Tampa for Orlando where we’re attending the 
A new group with some significant resources has jumped head first into the food and fuel debate. Members include the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company, DuPont, John Deere, Monsanto, and the Renewable Fuels Association.
On the subject of locating a biorefinery we had another presentation on the subject here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. This one was by David Perkis, Purdue University.
Besides those out working in the industry we also heard from some university students today at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference. Lance Andrew Stewart is a grad student at the University of Tennessee. He did a very technical presentation on locating ethanol plants.
We had USDA Rural Development represented here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference by Tony Crooks. He works with their rural business cooperatives program and has done a lot of work with communities in the area of ethanol and biodiesel.
Our luncheon speaker today was Paul Willems who works for 
Two key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels.
The second session here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference was on risk and uncertainty.
One of our speakers here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference brought the discussion down to the farm level. John Miranowski, Iowa State University, spoke about the impact of biofuels on the rural economy and the farm structure.
Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.
I finally got to meet the Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan was on hand at the Kum & Go pump promotion and posed here with the Highway Patrolmen who helped us with security and traffic and other drivers. He’s the tall guy on the left. Cindy and Laura have already had a chance to meet him. This is my first Indy race of the year though.
Biofuels have been making headlines all over the place lately. I’m sure the weather in the central United States is going to continue to fuel the issue. It’s also taking us out on the road a bit this month. Cindy’s at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop and later this week I’ll be at the Iowa Indy Corn 250.
Next week I’ll be attending Farm Foundation’s program titled, 
Cindy is attending this week’s Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Nashville, TN and will be primarily posting onto 
As if we didn’t have enough confusion about the whole food and fuel issue, now we’ve got a new “coalition” with an agenda and a website. There’s a built in blog with no posts too. I really recommend posting on your blog if you want anyone to visit it and if you want any credibility. This one is called 
This is just too good to pass on letting you in on it. 
Laura McNamara interviewed Aggie-Lance creator and founder, Mark Jewell.
