Upfront

Cellulosic ethanol update
In July, Range Fuels announced it had been awarded a construction permit from the state of Georgia to build the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States. The plant will be in Treutlen County, Georgia, where it is expected to produce 100 million gallons of cellulosic-derived ethanol annually. The plant will use wood waste from Georgia’s forests as its feedstock. Phase 1 of the plant is scheduled to complete construction in 2008 with a production capacity of 20 million gallons a year.

The U.S. Department of Energy, in a joint report with the USDA, has identified over one billion tons of biomass annually that could be converted to biofuels like ethanol. Range Fuels’ technology transforms biomass, including wood chips, agricultural wastes, grasses, cornstalks, paper and pulp into ethanol. It uses a thermo-chemical conversion process to convert biomass to synthesis gas and then convert the gas to ethanol.

Of course, a few weeks earlier, POET, the largest dry-mill, corn-based ethanol producer, announced that it had produced cellulosic ethanol from corncobs. The company announced the results of the successful test along with its intentions to make cobs and corn fiber the feedstock for its commercial cellulosic ethanol production facility that will be jointly funded with the U.S. Department of Energy.

According to POET, the fiber that comes from its fractionation process will provide 40 percent of needed cellulosic feedstock from the corn kernels that are already processed at its ethanol facilities. The balance of POET’s cellulosic feedstock will come from corncobs.

The cellulosic project that POET is jointly funding with the DOE will convert an existing 50 million gallons per year (mgpy) dry-mill ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, into a commercial cellulosic biorefinery. Once complete, the facility will produce 125 mgpy, 25 percent of which will be from cellulosic feedstock.


Soy-based interior for Ford Mustangs
Bit by bit, you can see the efforts of the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff in places you might not have expected. Most recently, Ford Motor Company’s announced that soy-based polyurethane foam is being used in seating applications for the 2008 Ford Mustang. Ford’s breakthrough follows 7 years of work by the auto company’s team of researchers in its biomaterials department.

The soy-based flexible foam, which uses a 5 percent soy-based polyol, was incorporated into seat backs and seat cushions in the new Mustang in August.

Research is currently underway to develop chemistry to replace even larger amounts of petroleum with soy in the foam for use in future applications. Ford researchers are working to replace 40 percent of the standard petroleum-based polyol with soy-derived material. At this level, using this soy polyurethane is estimated to result in as much as $26 million in annual cost savings for Ford. The National Institute of Standards and Technology said soy polyols have only one-quarter the level of total environmental impact of petroleum-based ingredients.

The soybean checkoff partnered with Ford in January of 2004 and has contributed funds to the development of soy foam in seating applications until March of this year, when the contract expired.
Most automotive manufacturers today are using 100 percent petroleum-based polyol foam. The annual demand for petroleum-based polyols in the United States is 3 billion pounds; the demand worldwide is 9 billion pounds. On average, 30 pounds of petroleum-based foam is used in each automobile produced.


The path to fair cash rent
Price discovery on cash rent in your neighborhood might run through the coffee shop. At least that’s the tradition. But there are some pitfalls in the system. According to a report from Don Hofstrand, co-director of the Ag Marketing Resource Center at Iowa state and William Edwards, Iowa State extension economist, “The most common method of establishing a cash rent is to set a rate similar to what other people in the area are charging.

“This method assumes that what others are charging is fair and equitable. A landowner receiving less rent per acre than the neighbors feels he is not receiving what is rightfully due. However, a landowner receiving more than a neighbor may feel he is being unfair to the tenant.”

There are three potential pitfalls with this approach, said the authors:

• Charging what others are charging may not be appropriate for a particular farm. Remember that most other tenants and landowners are in the same position you are. They are looking for someone to tell them what rental rate is fair and equitable. If you use this method, compare your rate to many other rates instead of just one.
• Rumors about cash rental rates may be quite different than the actual rates, especially in a rapidly changing market.
• Differences in the quality of land should be taken into account when comparing your rental rate to those of others. Landlords who are unfamiliar with farming often assume all land is of equal productivity. So, when using this method, be sure to compare your rate to rates for land of comparable quality, based on actual yields or productivity indices.

In the report, the authors offer several alternative ways to establish cash rental rates including average yields, corn suitability ratings (CSR index), share of gross crop value, return on investment, crop share equivalent and tenant’s residual.

See the report online at: www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c2-20.html  


Governor’s Cup awarded
Tony Kooyumjian, owner of Augusta Winery, recently accepted the top honors—the Governor's Cup—at the 2007 Missouri Wine Competition.

Kooyumjian thanked the vineyards that grew grapes for the award-winning wine and said he was excited that Missouri was reaching its potential for quality and uniqueness in the wine industry.

The winning wine was a newly released Augusta 2004 Estate Bottled Chambourcin. It was the first time that the Chambourcin varietal won the top award. It is the second most planted red grape in the state, behind the No. 1 Norton/Cynthiana.

The competition sponsored by the Missouri Wine and Grape Board awarded 29 Gold Medals, 79 Silver Medals and 89 Bronze Medals. More information about Missouri wines is available at www.missouriwine.org.  

For information about growing grapes in Missouri, visit: www.missourigrapegrowers.org.  

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