Wayne Teddy is the President of Cargill’s Grain & Oilseed Crush Supply unit for North America. He was on hand this morning at the Paseo Biofuels announcement.

I got to interview Wayne after his presentation. We moved into the shade because it was another very hot day in Missouri. Wayne says that while the equity drive is taking place for the new company there will be some negotiating of the final details of the joint venture and expects a groundbreaking by the fall. He says the proposed joint venture facility will mean more jobs, more demand for Missouri soybeans and be a flagship facility for Cargill.

I also asked him about whether there is a food vs. fuel concern on the part of Cargill. He says the supply of feedstocks is currently sufficient to meet the demands of both. He acknowledged that some people perceive Cargill as fueling this debate but that although it is something that should be discussed, Cargill is investing very heavily in biofuels and that it’s not an issue of Cargill being anti-biofuels but that agriculture view the whole issue of biofuels from a reasonable perspective.

You can listen to my interview with Wayne here: Wayne Teddy Interview (5 min MP3)