The first summer of Minnesota running a 10 percent biodiesel (B10) mandate is being called a success. The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) says as the state moves back to a B5 mandate over the winter months, the group is celebrating how well the higher blend made mostly from its soybeans went. “The implementation of B10 went very well,” said …
FAPRI: Biodiesel, Ethanol Feedstocks Bigger than Expected
A new report shows that the main feedstocks for biodiesel and ethanol, soybeans and corn, are going to have bigger harvests than previously expected. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri says while the big crops will push prices for those feedstocks down – even further down than what was projected just a couple of …
Minnesota “Spills Beans About Biodiesel”
What could be more All-American this time of year than baseball… and biodiesel! This article from the Minnesota Farm Guide says the folks at the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) are combining the two truly patriotic loves during their “Spilling the Beans About Biodiesel” night at the St. Paul, Minnesota Saints baseball game at Midway Stadium on Tuesday, …
Biodiesel Helps Fuel Monsanto’s Profits
The world’s biggest agriculture company says it will double its profits by the year 2019, and it’s crediting biodiesel, at least indirectly and in part, for that growth. This article in the Globe and Mail says Monsanto is cashing in on the growth in soybeans, which is being helped by biodiesel growth. Sales in Monsanto’s soybean business rose by 24 …
Worldwide Biodiesel Production to Hit Record
Biodiesel production worldwide is expected to hit a record this year, with higher mandates in South America expected to help fuel the climb. This article from Bloomberg quotes an Oil World report that shows biodiesel production could rise by about 8 percent to 29.1 million tons this year. Brazil’s biodiesel inclusion mandate will rise to 6 percent in July from …
Brazilian Beans Feeding Biodiesel Could be Good
Increased demand for soybeans in the U.S., driven in part by the biodiesel industry, is prompting some Brazilian imports of the feedstock. And while importing agricultural products normally covered by domestic producers usually is seen as a negative, this article from the Herald-Review in Decatur, Ill. says it could actually work in American farmers’ favor this time. Irony? Travesty? Unthinkable …
Minnesota is First to Mandate B10 Biodiesel
The land of 10,000 lakes becomes the first for another 10… a 10 percent biodiesel mandate. The move from a B5 to B10 blending requirement for summer months starting this July 1st was welcomed by the growers of the most popular feedstock, soybeans. “I’m very pleased that common sense is still alive and well and that our legislators voted for …
Biodiesel Producers, Farmers Take to The Hill
Biodiesel producers and farmers who raise the feedstocks for the biodiesel industry took to Capitol Hill this week, joining a group of U.S. Senate Democrats in their calls to end policy uncertainty that is hurting their industry. “The uncertainty caused by these policy setbacks in Washington, with this proposed retreat on biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and …
Students Hope to Get Solar Edge from Soy
Students at Appalachian State University (ASU) are hoping to get the edge during the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 using soy-biobased products. The student team designed and built a “reimagined” solar-powered row house that is sailing to France to compete against 20 global teams. ASU, located in Boone, North Carolina, is one of three schools chosen for the sister competition to …
Biodiesel Pushes Up Soybean Use, Producers’ Profits
Good news for biodiesel means good news for the growers of its main feedstock, soybeans. This article from KTIC says last year’s biodiesel production of 1.36 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2013, 37 percent more than in 2012, means 468 million bushels of U.S. soybeans were squeezed to get that feedstock oil. And that has pushed up soybean prices by …