07/17/07 Canola production plant for Idaho

Disco Associates of Salt Lake City is planning to build a 125 million dollar canola oilseed crushing and processing plant near Buhl. An Idaho based company, Diversified Fuels will run the plant. Diversified president Stace Campbell says it's not a chemical plant or a biofuels plant but a fuel for life plant. CAMPBELL "Fryer oils, edible oils, fuel for the body, fuel for the vehicle, fuel for industrial oils whatever those happen to be." Using out of state grown canola as a feedstock Campbell says they hope to be up and running by this time next summer. At full operation they'll be able to produce oil for biodiesel production and 700 tons of canola meal each day which would be sold to dairies and livestock feeding operations. Campbell hopes that southern Idaho farmers will start putting canola seed into the ground. CAMPBELL "Can solve water issues because we can grow effectively with eight inches of water. Secondly barley or grains following a canola rotation have a 27 percent increase in yield on average first year rotation followed by 15 percent the second year, ten percent on the third." Right now there's about 67 acres of canola growing next to the former Coors barley receiving station in Buhl. That's another part of the story, coming tomorrow. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott