All posts in the topic Sustainably Grown Oil Seed Crops In New England (Short link)
Summary
- There are 2 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Scott Reed at 2006 Oct 11 06:09 UTC
I am clearly not an expert on farming or sustainable agriculture of any sort.
I am however, very interested in the possibilities for growing oil seed crops
locally for conversion into biodiesel. Co-op Power and Northeast Biodiesel Co.
have their business strategies based in sustainablily, which is why the initial
raw material for use in our biodiesel production facility is recyled veggie
oils and recyled animal fats. In order to better secure our supply of raw
material, I want to know more about the prospect of growing oil seeds (rape
seed or soy beans, or any other) in New England in volume and utilizing
sustainable agriculture techniques. Is this a topic that makes sense? Is this
even possible? Is this economically feasible for local farmers? etc. etc. etc.
Thanks,
Larry Union
Northeast Biodiesel Company, LLC
I did a little goggling to get the data on this question. I will not
swear by the analysis but I think it is generally accurate.
I think that oil crops are not grown in the area now because our markets
and soils can bring more per acre for labor-intensive crops like veggies
and tobacco. I would estimate that veggies and tobacco gross about
$5,000-$10,000 an acre, perhaps $5,000 net, on average. An oil crop
would have to offer similar returns.
Soybeans sell for around $7 a bushel or $280 an acre. Soybeans yield
about 50 gallons of oil and a ton of soy meal per acre. The meal is
worth about 7 cents a pound ($140 per acre), so the farmer would need to
be paid at least $100 a gallon for the oil to gross the same as current
crops! To make a living from low-value crops like this, it takes
significant mechanization and huge fields like they have in the
mid-west, where this kind of agriculture is practiced. Canola (rapeseed)
yields about 125 gallons of oil per acre and then the farmer "only"
needs to get $40 a gallon to match a $5000/acre veggie crop!
So, the economics don't look very sustainable but soy is one of the most
biologically sustainable crops because it takes very little from the
soil. The soy cake that remains after pressing the oil is a good
feedstock, an excellent fertilizer, and the basis for humble human food.
If the meal is used as fertilizer it builds the soil up rather than
depleting it. You can feed the meal to livestock and then put the manure
on the fields and that may be even better for building soil health (plus
you get animal products if you like).
Note what these figures tell us about how much land we need to power
various activities. With soybeans we get 50 gallons of oil per acre
which yields about 40 gallons of biodiesel. That acre of soy will power
a small diesel truck getting 50 miles to the gallon about 2000 miles. It
will heat a small house for about a couple of weeks in cold weather. If
a frugal family drives 5,000 miles a year (2.5 acres of soy) and heats
their house for 20 weeks a year (3 acres of soy), then 5.5 acres of land
will support their transportation and heating needs. With another half
acre for food and housing, they would use 6 acres.
Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties total about 280,000 families.
At 5.5 acres apiece, we'd need 1,540,000 acres to supply their energy
needs from soy. Our three counties cover about 1,183,000 acres of which
about 10% is farmland, enough to feed, heat and transport about about 8%
of the population. Assuming there are other sources of energy in the
mix, 8% is nothing to sniff at but it is clearly a small part of the
solution (and we have ignored the energy needs of government and industry).