06/27/08 Developing Self-Sufficiency

Developing Self-Sufficiency. I'm Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report. Gazing into my trusty crystal ball, it is easy to see a time when farming operations are virtually self sufficient. In other words, all energy needs are created right on site. Many ag producers are moving in that direction and one farmer is quite close to fulfillment. Bob Quinn is a 4th generation Montana farmer who is very close to being self-sufficient. QUINN: You have to understand where I'm coming from to get to renewable fuels. 20 or 25 years ago I started with converting my farm to organic agriculture so sustainable organic agriculture led naturally to sustainable renewable fuels. I believe very strongly that farmers to survive in the coming years need to grow not only their own fertilizer but also their own fuel. Quinn has been working at growing Camelina to produce the necessary oils for fuel. He is planting it as part of his normal crop rotation and says it has advantages over canola, another great oil seed crop. QUINN: We can plant camelina in March or even in winter and therefore it gets a lot earlier start in the year. It germinates at 40 degrees and it's blooming before the heat hits and it's a brassica like mustard family like canola and it doesn't take heat very well when it's blooming and canola is blooming later and often gets hit with heat and destroys the flower, therefore the yield. Like most plants, there are different varieties of camelina and Quinn says that has been a bit of a hold up. QUINN: Well my goal is to be able to press it on the farm and show it can be done before we establish community sized facilities. I haven't gotten to the next stage yet because I am still looking for the right kind of camelina plant that I can directly burn the oil from this plant in my engines. The camelina that is mostly out there has fatty acid chains which are too long and so I am seeking a variety that has shorter chains. He is also carrying the oil crop idea on through. QUINN: I am also working with sunflower and safflower oils that we could use for hydraulic fluid and motor oil in our engines so I would like to be able to grow all of our own lubricants and fuels eventually and maybe use the mash which contains quite a bit of oil to burn in pellet stoves to heat our homes and replace propane. For additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network. www.harvestcleanenergy.org