07/02/07 Idaho's only biodiesel refinery stop production

It's ironic. A business that could help farmers is curtailing operations because farmers are getting too much for some of their commodities. Blue Sky Biodiesel of New Plymouth has less than 50 thousand gallons of product on hand and when it's gone it's gone, at least for awhile. Co-owner Rob Black says he can't afford to continue making biodiesel fuel because of the cost of the soybean oil he uses as feed stock. BLACK "Right now we're having to pay three dollars a gallon for our oil coming in and you know with fuel prices what they are as you can see at the pump we're $2.87 to three bucks at the pump right now. Obviously that's a looser. Soy comes closest to being not a loser than anything." Black says that soy oil comes from the Midwest and is cheaper than using canola or rapeseed, even if it was produced locally. Black says when corn prices took off and other commodities followed his multi-million dollar dream turned into a non-profit situation. BLACK "Year ago there was about a dollar a gallon profit in it and maybe in another year there will be but at this point we're just going to have to sit this one out." This is happening at a time when a state agency is looking to upgrade the biofuel infrastructure. That story tomorrow. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott