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 …
Grants Support Research on Biodiesel Feedstock
A Canadian researcher has received $2 million in grants to improve a main feedstock for biodiesel. This story from LabCanada.com says University of Guelph scientist Prof. Istvan Rajcan picked up more than $500,000 in the form of a Collaborative Research and Development Grant by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and another $1.4 million Collaborative Research and Development Grant …
2012 Ag Census Includes Renewable Energy
The 2012 Census of Agriculture shows a doubling of on-farm renewable energy production since 2007. According to the census data released by USDA today, there were 57,299 farms that produced on-farm renewable energy in 2012, more than double the 23,451 in 2007. By far the biggest was solar panels, used on over 36,000 farms. Geoexchange systems and wind turbines each …
Checkoff Targets Big Yields for Biodiesel Feedstock
A farmers’ checkoff is targeting research to get bigger yields for this country’s primary feedstock for biodiesel. This story from Biodiesel Magazine says the United Soybean Board wants to increase average soybean yields by about 50 percent in the decade. “Yield research has been the center of checkoff research since the organization was established,” said Gregg Fujan, who leads the …