08/15/06 Getting Revved Up About Soy

Getting revved up about Soy. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Biodiesel is the fastest-growing renewable energy source in the country - and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. The farmer-leaders of the soybean checkoff have helped grow the number of soy biodiesel retailers and distributors from about 450 in 2002 to close to three-thousand today. United Soybean Board Vice Chairman Eric Niemann - who grows soybeans on his Kansas farm - says the current success of biodiesel is the result of seeds planted many years ago. NIEMANN: The United Soybean Board has worked for many years; around 10 years on the biodiesel front. I applaud the directors 10 years ago who had the foresight to say let's try meeting our energy needs by using biodiesel. I think they thought it had a place and it's proved that it does. In addition to continued growth in availability - Niemann points out that the soybean checkoff's promotional efforts have led to a dramatic increase in the number of farmers who use the cleaner-burning fuel. NIEMANN: We went to our farmers first and we asked them to use biodiesel on their farm. It's been very successful now, about 1 out of 2, about 50% of the soybean users in America are using biodiesel using the product they produce and it's working very well. We started out with the 2% blend on my farm about 3 years ago. Currently using a 10% blend. It works very well. Soy biodiesel has now moved beyond the farm and onto the road. Niemann says the success farmers have had using soy biodiesel helped the soybean checkoff attract other major users to the benefits offered by the home-grown fuel. NIEMANN: We've expanded that into a variety of other areas; the trucking industry which uses the greatest amount of diesel fuel in America has endorsed biodiesel, they see the benefits. It's a cleaner burn, it has great performance. A 2% blend improves the lubricity 66%. More growth is ahead for soy biodiesel - the national biodiesel board reports that 50 U.S. biodiesel manufacturers are now in operation with another 50 planned. To find a biodiesel retail location near you - please visit the National Biodiesel Board's website at www dot biodiesel dot org. To learn more about the soybean checkoff's support of biodiesel - visit www dot unitedsoybean dot org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.