One of our speakers here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference brought the discussion down to the farm level. John Miranowski, Iowa State University, spoke about the impact of biofuels on the rural economy and the farm structure.

He says that their numbers indicate that increasing biofuels production will have a positive impact on rural communities and farm structure up to a point but that it could have some negative impacts. One thing is certain, he sees an uncertain future for biofuels.

However, even with the uncertainty, he thinks the industry will make a go of it because of an increased demand for fuel. As far as where we’re going, he sees a bigger role for corn and corn stover fuels given the RFS and that this is one area where we have an ability to increase productivity while decreasing environmental impact concerns.

You can listen to my interview with John here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/ff-bio-08-miranowski.mp3]

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

I’m also uploading pictures to a photo album which you can feel free to use if you’d like: Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album