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
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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
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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
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'Healthy soils, healthy grass and healthy animals'
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'The nutritional benefits of grass'
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'Breeding better grasses' - D. Johnston, Ireland
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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)