Talking Rural Policy

Chuck Zimmerman

Tom DorrMy good friend Tom Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, was our opening speaker for day two of Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. He was glad to see the golden ZimmComm microphone once again! We visited for a while before the session got started.

He says that rural policy is more important and timely a topic now than it has ever been, especially as we’re coming off the finalization of the 2008 Farm Bill. Some reasons include the huge growth in the deployment of broadband internet access and the demand for food and energy. With growth in rural communities people are starting to think differently when it comes to policy issues like conservation.

He pointed out that 95 percent of all rural income is off farm and that there haven’t been any new jobs in agriculture in recent years. So he says we need to look at unique uses of local resources for development but that development creates demands on infrastructure like water and sewer. He says that by meeting goals of replacing oil with renewable energy sources we’re creating a significant rural investment opportunity. So the question he poses to communities is “Are they willing to step up?”

Dorr has a long history with the Farm Foundation since he was a member of the round table prior to his appointment in Washington, DC. He also talks about the Foundation’s rural development opportunity tours and one that’s planned for this summer in Europe where he’ll be participating in a farmer to farmer dialogue.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: ff-bio-08-dorr.mp3

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Foundation, USDA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Highly respected genetic researcher Gerard Davis has been named Head of Product Development and Laboratory Operations at Pfizer Animal Genetics. Dr. Davis will have global responsibilities for research and development of all new products in the Pfizer Animal Genetics portfolio.
  • The Progressive Agriculture Safety Day™ program is the only program serving farm and rural children that offers safety lessons that can be combined to fit the unique needs of participants in each specific community. The program’s selection of more than 25 lessons is as varied as its sponsors, such as Buck Knives, The Propane Education & Research Council and the MetLife Foundation. Local volunteers select from this wide array of information to offer Safety Days appropriate for the predominant safety challenges children in their area might face.
  • Monsanto Company has agreed to acquire Marmot, S.A., which operates Semillas Cristiani Burkard, a privately-held seed company headquartered
    in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Once completed, the acquisition will build on Monsanto’s corn business leadership and enable it to offer farmers in Central American countries broader access to corn seed varieties.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Buying Biomass

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Sarah BrechbillOkay. This is the last one for today. But there’s more to come tomorrow.

    Sarah Brechbill, Purdue University, got to put her masters degree project on the stage today here at the Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. She looked at the cost to get biomass to a plant and specifically looked at switchgrass and corn stover.

    She says that there’s really no one answer to what’s best for everyone. However, she did find that corn stover was generally cheaper. One reason is that it’s already being grown.

    You can listen to my interview with Sarah here: ff-bio-08-brechbill.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

    Cellulosic Flavonoids

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Danielle Julie CarrierWe hear a lot about co-products with ethanol production like the DDGS but what about in cellulosic ethanol production? Well, Danielle Julie Carrier, Arkansas State University is doing work on that subject.

    I was very interested to hear that there are some possibilities. She’s working with switchgrass and they’ve found that if you wash the feedstock prior to the pre-treatment for ethanol production that you get a water mix with flavonoids which help reduce bad cholesterol. Co-products like this have potential and may help make the production of cellulosic ethanol more attractive.

    You can listen to my interview with Julie here: ff-bio-08-carrier.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

    Adding Peas To Corn For Ethanol

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Abhishek GoelI know you’re getting a healthy dose of biofuels here on AgWired today but it all has to do with agriculture and rural America so I hope you’re enjoying it. I’ve been learning a lot, including just how much work the Farm Foundation does.

    During our last session of the day here at the Farm Foundation, Transition To A Bio Economy Conference, our speakers talked about some feedstock and co-product issues of ethanol production. First up was Abhishek Goel, North Dakota State University. He did work on using dry peas to supplement corn in an ethanol plant. The idea was to reduce supply risk and increase profitability.

    He says that in North Dakota corn supply is variable and since the state is the biggest producer of dry peas it seemed like a natural place to start. The work was done in 2007 and although prices have certainly changed he believes there are opportunities to supplement corn with other feedstock options.

    You can listen to my interview with him here: ff-bio-08-goel.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

    More On Ethanol Plant Location

    Chuck Zimmerman

    David PerkisOn 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: ff-bio-08-perkis.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

    Where To Locate Your Ethanol Plant

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Lance Andrew StewartBesides 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: ff-bio-08-stewart.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation

    USDA Rural Development Biofuels Assistance

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Tony CrooksWe 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: ff-bio-08-crooks.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation, USDA

    Energy BioSciences Institute Working on Solutions

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Paul WillemsOur 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: ff-bio-08-willems.mp3

    You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

    Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation

    R&D Risk in Renewable Fuels

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Gordon RausserTwo 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: ff-bio-08-rausser.mp3

    Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Farm Foundation, Research