How To Make Biodiesel

Sep. 8–Vince Drendel of Evansville remembers when Rock County didn’t have many acres of soybeans. Drendel, 88, was the first president of the Wisconsin Soybean Association when it formed in 1972. He has seen cash crops grow in acreage and importance in southern Wisconsin. “Soybeans are awful good in the rotation of corn,” he said. “There’s a lot more grain farming now than back then.” The switch that many area farmers made from dairy to grain in the past few decades is a big reason that southern Wisconsin has attracted biofuel plants, said Jim Stute, UW Extension crops and soils agent. Regional developments include a biodiesel plant under construction in DeForest, proposed biodiesel plants in Evansville and Clinton, an ethanol plant under construction in Milton and an ethanol plant in operation in Monroe. Soybean oil is most commonly used to create biodiesel, while corn meal is used to make ethanol. Biodiesel officials say the area is attractive because Dane and Rock counties, and the entire south-central region of the state, are top soybean producers. “My best guess is because of the nature of our agriculture in the southern third of Wisconsin,” Stute said. “We tend to be more concentrated on grain production.” Soybean production in the south-central region has increased dramatically-from 1.6 million bushels in 1975 to nearly 18.5 million bushels last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Rock County, soybean production steadily increased from about 540,000 bushels in 1965 to more than 4 million bushels last year-a 644 percent increase. That makes sense because soybeans historically have been more prominent in the southern part of the state, Stute said. “As you get farther north, you see more dairy farms,” he said. “That’s not to say we don’t have a lot of livestock production, but more of the acreage is devoted to grain crops.” The continued growth of grain can be attributed partly to the fertile, productive land in southern Wisconsin and partly to the general shift of agricultural production that took root in the 1960s and 1970s, Stute said. “When the shift occurred towards more specialization of either dairy or cash grain, cash grain naturally occurred here,” he said. Biofuel plants in southern Wisconsin also will benefit from good roads and railroads that can transport corn and soybeans from the northern part of the state, said Bob Karls, executive director of the Wisconsin Soybean Association. Proximity to the Chicago market is also a factor, he said. “Wisconsin has such an excellent infrastructure to bring grain from the north down,” he said. “As it works its way down to the Illinois River, (southern Wisconsin) is a good stopping point to not transport it as far.” Construction of the state’s first soybean crushing facility would have a huge impact on farmers and biodiesel producers, analysts say. Farmers now transport nearly all soybeans out of state for processing, and biodiesel plants ship the soy oil back. Landmark Services Cooperative is studying the feasibility of building a crushing plant that would process 26.4 million bushels a year. It would be built next to the proposed biodiesel plant east of Evansville. It’s been years since Drendel farmed his 500-acre farm. He now rents it out. At one point, he grew 250 to 300 acres of soybeans annually. But he still sees the tremendous value in what a crush facility could do for area farmers. “This crush (facility) is what we tried to get a long time ago,” he said. It’s wonderful that a biodiesel plant will be built in Evansville, he said. “But they better be getting a crushing plant here, too.” Credit: The Janesville Gazette, Wis.

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