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Federal Agriculture Department officials are warning that the rising demand for biodiesel is pushing up the demand, and the price, for the feedstocks that go into biodiesel… and that is cutting into already thin margins biodiesel are working under.

USDA Chief Economist Keith Collins says soybean oil prices have already been going up, and farmers are planting 15 percent fewer acres of soybeans to make way for corn to produce ethanol… pushing supplies down even further… and prices for the biodiesel feedstock even higher.

“As we look out over the coming year, we still think we’re going to have adequate supplies of soybeans, but the price for soybean meal and soybean oil is going up, and biodiesel, made from soybean oil has already been on a very thin margin over the past year.”

Officials say rising regular diesel prices have stayed up as well, and that has helped.

Click here to hear the USDA’s story on this subject.

Tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be seen by millions of fans across the country… thanks, in part, to biodiesel. And it’s just the start for the green fuel’s part on America’s sports stage.

Fox Sports will be powering all of its generators, satellite trucks, and other diesel equipment at its television compound in San Francisco with 20 percent biodiesel, B20. This release from the National Biodiesel Board says Fox has also committed to using B20 to power its broadcasts of the World Series, Super Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series and other major events:

The move is part of the “Cool Change Initiative” introduced by News Corporation, the parent company to FOX Sports.

“The entertainment industry has led by example when it comes to using and promoting biodiesel,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. “It’s refreshing to see such high profile stars and companies embracing biodiesel and letting it help them take control of their impact on the environment and oil imports.”

Fox officials say biodiesel was an easy choice for an alternative fuel, since they didn’t have to change any of their equipment to use it.

The Department of Defense has signed a contract with Syntroleum Corp. to buy 500 gallons of biofuel made from animal fats. The feedstock for Syntroleum’s fuel would come from Tyson Foods.

This company press release says it’s a first-of-its-kind test program that is aimed to see if the military could use fuel from domestic, renewable sources:

Under terms of the contract, Syntroleum will provide 500 gallons of ultra-clean renewable synthetic jet fuel produced entirely from fats supplied by Tyson Foods, Inc., using the company’s recently announced Biofining(TM) technology. The fuel will be used for research development and performance testing in military turbine applications as part of the DOD’s Assured Fuels Program, aimed at evaluating the possibility of utilizing renewable alternative jet fuel made from bio feedstocks. The U.S. Air Force has expressed its desire to source 50 percent of its fuel needs from domestic alternative sources by 2016, and plans to certify its entire fleet of aircraft for alternative fuel use by 2010.

“This contract with the U.S. Department of Defense is another significant milestone for Syntroleum,” said Jack Holmes, CEO of Syntroleum. “When the contract is completed, we would be the first company to provide both renewable synthetic aviation fuel and FT aviation fuel to the Department of Defense for its certification and weapon system testing program. This acceptance of our alternative synthetic fuels once again validates the quality and integrity of our product, and the successful completion of this program will provide Syntroleum with an opportunity for other long-term supply contracts with the Department of Defense.”

Just a personal note from a veteran who spent a few days in the heat and sand and grit of the desert, I would have been much happier camped out next to a corn and soybean field as opposed to some berm just off the oil fields. This makes a lot of sense to me.