Local Corn, Soybean Fuel Studies Under Way York County Hires Ag Development Specialist DAVELEFEVER Lancaster Farming Staff YORK (York Co.) Crop growers and economic develop ment leaders continue to investi gate the possibility of building biofuel production facilities in the area. Turning local crops into fuel could boost profits for farmers, in addition to providing cleaner burning, renewable substitutes for fossil fuels, supporters of the inititative say. Two new studies will assess the feasibility of producing ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybeans in a nine-county area of southeast Pennsylvania. “Both studies are moving ahead,” said Scott Welsh, re cently hired York County agri culture economic development <gsj) (gsj) GSI Grain Bins Grain Dryers Elevators Call For Early Order Discounts A £^ s AFFORDABLE QUALITY Westfield VpSJ/ From and SONES GRAIN SYSTEMS Hutchison Muncy, pa (570) 584-2282 (gg) (Gg) (gg) January 9th Wausau, Wl January 10th Mineral Point, Wl January 11th specialist. 881 International, an inde pendent consulting firm based in Colorado, began work on the first phase of an ethanol feasibil ity study in early December, Welsh said. The $30,000 study is funded in part by private utility compa nies and by the Keystone Devel opment Center, a USDA-backed nonprofit agency to assist farmer cooperatives. One of the issues the study will address is the best location for a prospective ethanol plant within an area including Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancaster, and York counties. Along with the possible addi tion of Adams and Franklin counties, that area encompasses is; (gg) (gg) (gg) (eg) (gg) (gg) (gg) m Better Grass for Ruminants Barenbrug Seminar Series January 2002 'Better Grass for Ruminants' is the title of the 2002 Barenbrug multi state seminar series. Attend the seminar in your state to leam more about growing, managing, harvesting and feeding grass and legume forages to lower your cost of production, improve animal health and Improve your bottom line. Seminar Schedule 9:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 1:45 2:30 3:00 a Regional Economic Develop ment District Initiative (REDDI) aimed at boosting the region’s economy, according to David Carver, president of the York County Economic Devel opment Corporation (YCEDC). Carver said that several northern Maryland counties could also benefit from a local biofuel facility. Carver and the YCEDC first threw their support behind the ethanol project when York County’s Agricultural Economic Development Alliance suggested the idea at a meeting last Janu ary. According to Carver, consid ering a biodiesel plant to pro duce fuel from soybeans is compatible with the ethanol ini tiative, even though the two Opening 'Grass utilization in Ireland' - D. Johnston, Ireland 'Healthy soils, healthy grass and healthy animals' G. Zimmer, Wisconsin Break for Lunch 'The nutritional benefits of grass' C. Martin, Agri King IJ. Thyssen, Oregon 'Breeding better grasses' - D. Johnston, Ireland 'The Total Farm Concept' T. Guttridge, Pennsylvania /J. Thyssen, Oregon Announcements and Closing BARENBRUG Great in Grass® York County ag and economic development leaders are exploring biofuel production possibilities for the area. Seated, from left, David Carver, president of the Economic Development Corporation, and Scott Welsh, agriculture economic development specialist. Standing, from left, Ag Alliance spokesmen Tony Oobrosky, Dan Wolf, and Bill Myers. fuels are produced s \ ky fundamentally dif- Qlßp (BSP ferent methods: oil ex- trusion vs. (BgT) fermentation, respec- v — y tively. ygnfv Both facilities would require a simi- lar infrastructure of fflSl) land, roads, and elec v trical power to support ifinfv them, Carver said. A $15,000 study to look at the possibility (BSP of building a biodiesel plant in the area was also launched in early December. Funded by the (GSp Pennsylvania soybean checkoff program and (Mt) conducted by A.U.S. v Consultants of Morris town, N.J., the study is concerned with the “general economic (B3I) feasibility’’ of a N biodiesel plant in the Stirring area, Welsh said. Mnnhlnnc 'SMi' Welsh was hired by juacnines the Y cedc in No and rngx) vember to facilitate Grain Cleaners agricultural economic _ „ , development imtia from Sukllp xjSJJ tives in the county. and DMC A Lebanon County (Pay native, Welsh received a bachelor of ag sci (Ogl) mSp ences degree from N yv ' Penn State and was m Bucket Elevators From Lampton , FARM SHOW Jan. 5-10 •oths 588-589 606 & 607 KEYSTONE SHOW loths 515-516 Building 5 Mr. David Johnston Grass breeder and dairy farmer from Northern Ireland Mr. Gary Zimmer Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 5,2002-A43 %>• employed by Brubaker Agronomic Consulting Service, Brownstown, for six years before coming to the YCEDC. Welsh said his job will present opportu nities to work on a va riety of projects to bolster local agricul ture. “I’ll be going out and talking to farmers and agribusinesses (to learn) what is threat ening their liveli hood,” he said. Besides working on biofuel possibilities, Welsh also plans to focus on direct marketing and other cooperative incentives for fanners. The York Ag Alli ance consists of a group of farmers, ag agencies, and agribu sinesses working with the YCEDC to en hance the local ag economy and “pre serve the farmer,” ac cording to spokesman Tony Dobrosky. Two steering com mittees formed out of the Alliance this year are guiding the ethanol and biodiesel initiatives. Dan Wolf, a Stewartstown-area corn grower, heads the six-member ethanol committee. According to Wolf, the larger scope of the ethanol project would involve forming a com producer’s cooperative with members pledg ing a portion of each year’s crop to ethanol production. YCEDC President Carver said that the “high-technology co operative” would be supervised by farmers, with some investments coming from other sources. A reasonable goal for such a cooperative would be to provide dividends to corn pro ducers of $.30 per bushel above the going market rate, Wolf said. Bill Myers, a Pio neer Seeds sales repre sentative from Hanover, heads the soybean biodiesel steering committee. (Turn to Page A 44)
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