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Biofuel use, input costs
rising for area farmers
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Anita Zimmerman
Farming is a balancing act of weighing input costs against output gains, and while fertilizer, fuel and rent costs are expected to rise this year, so is the alternative fuel production that could benefit Barron County in the future.
Right now the harvest is in progress, and despite cool, dry and inconsistent weather, area farmers should have enough corn to fill their contracts.
"No one is overcommitted. That`s always a concern," says Barron County Agricultural Agent Tim Jergenson.
Jergenson estimates sandy soil is yielding 100 bushels of corn per acre and heavier soils are averaging 120 bushels per acre. That`s down from the county average of 128 bushels per acre, but the county`s corn yield is up from 60,523 acres last year, according to City-data.com, to close to 80,000 acres this year, says Barron County Farm Service Agency Director Randy Cook.
Although dry weather decreased soybean production as much as 25 percent, farmers planted more grains to take advantage of high prices, Cook believes, and "that panned out pretty well."
But farmers are feeling a lot of uncertainty right now, Cook says. Grain prices have fallen with other commodities, and input costs-fertilizer, seed, fuel, land rent-are increasing.
Luckily, growing interest in biofuel production on state and local levels is the sunny side of high fuel cost. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Jergenson sees more and more farmers growing fuel crops and pressing them for sunflower and canola oil. It`s an alternative to diesel fuel that will gain popularity as presses become cheaper and more available and markets develop for by-products, Cook adds.
Current data confirms the statewide trend. According to the 2008 Biofuels and Alternative Fuels Use Report compiled by the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence, biofuel production capacity was 7.4 million gallons in 2007, will increase to 58 million gallons in 2008, and could reach 183 gallons in 2010.
The same increase holds true for ethanol production, and the county`s biggest asset in the hunt for alternative sources of energy may be its manufacturing capabilities and central location between Wisconsin`s Northwoods and dairy country.
Investing in research on renewable energy, like cellulosic ethanol-fuel made from the cellulose in plants and trees-is one of Gov. Doyle`s priorities, and when researchers find the best way to convert biomass into energy on a large scale, Barron County will be "strategically located to take advantage of that," Jergenson says.
Many Barron County farmers invested in ethanol production, Cook adds, and that, too, could pay future dividends.
© The Chetek Alert 2008
Source: The Chetek Alert
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