Osage Bio Energy, along with co-sponsors Perdue AgriBusiness, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and General Motors, recently announced the overall grand prize winner of the 2009 Barley Bin Builder Yield Contest.

Bobby Hutchison of Hutchison Brothers Farms in Cordova, MD, won the grand prize of a brand new GM Flex Fuel pickup truck with his yield of 130 bushels per acre. Cash prizes of between $500 and $1000 were also awarded to the top-yielding farmers in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.

“We are thrilled to reward these leading farmers for their outstanding barley yields in what was a tough year for small grains in the Mid-Atlantic,” said Craig Shealy, president and CEO of Osage Bio Energy. “The average yield per acre among all entrants to the yield contest was over 100 bushels an acre, with an average yield in Virginia of approximately 109 bushels an acre. These are nice results, especially considering the weather prior to harvest.”

Osage Bio Energy plans to sponsor another yield contest next year. Details will be available this fall through the company’s Web site, www.osagebioenergy.com, and through local extension agents.

Osage Bio Energy is scheduled to open the first major barley-to-ethanol bioprocessing facility in the United States, located in Hopewell, Va., to coincide with the 2010 barley harvest. The facility will use barley as its primary raw material in ethanol production, creating a new market for the local barley. Barley also will be used to produce a high-quality barley protein meal for livestock, along with fuel pellets and food-grade carbon dioxide.