Thanks to an invite from the United Soybean Board I met this Missouri soybean grower. He’s Dennis Shramek and one of the competitors in this weekend’s NTPA Midwest Extreme Truck and Tractor Pull in Jefferson City, MO. He’s one of several competitors who use a biodiesel blend in their tractors.

I met him early Friday evening long before his class was set to compete. Dennis grows soybeans and corn in central Missouri. He says they do a lot of no-till. Besides growing crops he’s got this AGCO DT225 which he competes with for points. He says they run over 3,000 horsepower! They blend their own biodiesel and jug it up and bring it along to the event. He gets better lubrication with biodiesel than pure low sulfur diesel. He says they’ve been competing with this tractor for about 6 years and they’ll compete at least 16 to 18 times a season.

Dennis is sure that the biodiesel industry will grow since it’s a clean fuel and helps the U.S. economy and helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

You can listen to my interview with Dennis below: