Domestic Fuel

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $44.6 million in payments for 156 advanced biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels.

“This funding will help local producers increase the production and availability of renewable energy and thus help our nation begin to reduce its reliance on foreign oil,” Vilsack said. “Just as importantly, USDA’s support will help to further develop the nation’s growing biofuels industry and generate green jobs and economic growth.”

The funding is being provided through USDA’s Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels program, the same program that provided $80 million in payments last month. Under this program, payments are made to eligible producers based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch – including cellulose; crop residue; animal, food and yard waste material; biogas (landfill and sewage waste treatment gas); vegetable oil, and animal fat.

Eighteen companies will receive over $1 million, four of them are over $2 million – including Renewable Energy Group of Iowa with $3.7 million; White Energy in Kansas at $3.1 million; Louis Dreyfus in Indiana with $2.4 million and Ag Processing of Nebraska at almost $2.1 million. The majority of the highest payments are for Biodiesel Trans Esterification, with a good percentage for advanced ethanol production, biofuel from waste and anaerobic digesters.

See the full list of recipients here.

Crave Brothers is promoting their commitment to the environment and renewable energy on the farm and in the farmstead cheese factory with a newly unveiled logo.

The new Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese logo features a dairy cow inside a green circle with the words “Produced with Renewable Energy.”

In producing their family of award-winning artisan cheeses, the Crave Brothers use 100% green power, and practice water conservation and recycling. Their commitment is evident in their land management practices and in the way they care for their cows. As a carbon-negative company, they produce more electricity with their bio digester generator than they use for their dairy farm and cheese plant. Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese goes one step further, too, inviting customers to join them in the quest for sustainability by reusing and recycling the cheese packaging. Customers can find this new logo on their cheese packages later in the year.

Crave Brothers Cheeses are created at a farmstead cheese factory in Waterloo, Wisconsin “where state-of-the-art technology promotes sustainability while maintaining traditional quality.”

The use of anaerobic digesters for livestock operations in the Southwest is the focus of the Renewable Energy Education Field Day webinar planned for later this month.

The webinar will be presented on Wednesday October 26 and will examine technical, environmental and financial factors to consider when installing an anaerobic digester on a livestock operation and specifically the use of digesters with dry manure and the unique environmental issues and climatic conditions of the Southwest.

The virtual Field Day is free of charge and targeted to dairy and beef producers in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Representatives of environmental and agricultural organizations working with livestock producers, as well as staff from state and federal agencies, are also encouraged to participate.

The webinar’s origination site will be the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, N.M., where anyone interested in the area is invited to attend live. Five viewing sites have been set up across the Southwest at Lamar Community College, Lamar, Colo.; Otero County Extension Office, Rocky Ford, Colo.; Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus, Mesa, Ariz.; the U.S. EPA Region 9 Office, San Francisco, Calif.; and the Texas A&M’s AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, Texas. Additional sites may be added.

Farm Foundation, NFP is organizing this webinar in collaboration with USDA Rural Development, USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. There is no charge to participate in this webinar, but registration is required by going to the FarmFoundation.org website. This is the second Renewable Energy Education Field Day presented by Farm Foundation, NFP and USDA agencies. Biomass was the subject of the first Field Day in November 2010.