Bio-diesel plant looks to camelina
From the Havre Daily News:
By Tim MacDonald
With a planned bio-diesel plant coming to the Hi- Line, the needs of the facility will be met with a crop new to the region. Camelina is the seed of preference. Greater Montana Bio Energies is planning to build a bio-diesel and bio-lubricants plant near Havre with the main ingredient of their products being camelina oil. The plant also will produce animal feed as a bi-product. The camelina is a knee-high bushy plant, which produces seeds about the size of coarse grains of sand. The crop is ideal for the Havre area, according to Greater Montana Bio Energies project manager Clancy Eldredge. “It’s just a question of getting the farmers used to dealing with it,” he said. Camelina is very tolerant of cold weather and can be planted as soon as tractors can get into the fields. It can be harvested in July, leaving a possibility of double cropping. Another benefit of camelina is its palatability as an animal feed. The planned cold-press plant will remove most of the oil from the meal leaving some to make a higher quality feed. The pressing process doesn't expose the meal to heat, which keeps the meal’s food value intact. It is high in vitamin E and omega 3 fatty acids. Eldredge said farmers who are used to dealing with alfalfa shouldn’t have any trouble dealing with the tiny camelina seeds. “It requires smaller drills, and all of the hoppers have to be duct taped so it doesn’t fall through any seams,” he said. “The seeds are so small that a little static electricity can cause it to stick to everything.” The seed used by Greater Montana Bio Energies is a specific variety licensed to the company. At present, the company has enough seed to plant an amount of 75,000 to 78,000 acres but expect to have enough to plant another 120,000 by spring. The seed was developed by agri-researcher Duayne Johnson of Bigfork.
Drilling has proven to be the most effective means Of planting, Eldredge said, with the highest production coming from seed drilled to 1/2 inch followed by a light compaction. Eldredge said that production seems to increase quickly as the farmer gets used to handling the crop. Average production seems to start at about 10,000 pounds per acre on the first year and increases over the next two years to an average of about 22,000 pounds. Camelina is so bushy that it veritably chokes out any weeds and the leaves are apparently not palatable to insects which eliminates the need for pesticides and herbicides. It is an excellent crop for following wheat in crop rotation, Eldredge said. The only fertilizer that may be necessary is a little sulphur. One more plus is that camelina, unlike other bio-fuel bases like corn and soybeans, is not a food crop so using it does not artificially inflate the cost to other consumers, Eldredge said. Farmers must watch the crop carefully as harvest time approaches, if the seed pods are allowed to over-mature they will break open and the seeds will simply blow away. The crop can be wind-rowed when the seeds are nearly mature to prevent this, according to Eldredge.
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