Minority Agriculture Producers, an organization of Hispanic farmers and ranchers in Texas, is holding workshops this month to consider the possibility of getting together to start an ethanol production facility or two, or three.

According to this story from Texas A&M Ag News, cotton farmer Donnie Valdez envisions three large factories in the Rio Grande Valley turning crops into bio-fuels and fuel additives. One factory would use vast quantities of sugarcane to produce ethanol, another would make biodiesel from cottonseed oil and a third would produce ethanol from corn and grains.

Valdez is spearheading the workshops which will be held Sept. 20 and Sept. 25 at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.

A final summit in October will involve U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) to discuss bio-fuels and other concerns of local growers.

The workshops are sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension and Prairie View A&M University, among others.