Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Mike Yoder of Elkhart represents Kosciusko County on the Indiana Soybean Board.
He cannot think of one negative aspect to the Louis Dreyfus Corp. announcment that the world's largest biofuel facility is planned for Claypool.
"The ISB been very proactive, using soybean checkoff dollars to not only advance soy-derived fuel, but research into plant diseases and new varieties to improve yields.
"While corn plants have increased their yeilds over the years, soybeans have not. We're working on that."
Yoder farms 750 acres in Elkhart County and has a 350-cow dairy.
He said the state already has the infrastructre in place to distribute biofuels.
"I can't think of any negative. There will be more jobs for people, increased assessed valuation on properties. It's all positive for the farming community as well."
The farmer will pay lower transportation costs, have another grain market open and access to cheaper soymeal as a livestock feed.
"The soybean is a multi-purpose bean, you see soy byproducts in a lot of things. For years we had to get ride of the soybean oil, and now we have a beneficial use for it."
"I will be interested to see what the marketplace does as far as passenger vehicles. If you go to other countries, like Coasta Rica, their passenger vehicles run on diesel.
"Until the Jeep Liberty there weren't any diesel engines in passentger vehicles. The diesel engine is lower maintenance and better fuel mileage.
"In the meantime we have a large commercial fleet based on diesel and a huge volume of that can use biodiesel.
"Since sulfer has been pulled out of diesel fuel, soy makes a nice green-energy additive.
Yoder is in the second year of a four-year term on the Indiana Soybean Board.
Indiana's Soy Biodiesel Industry Fact Sheet from the Indiana Soybean Board:
Biodiesel is the name of a clean-burning, alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources, such as soybeans. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend.
It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use and biodegradable.
Soy Biodiesel Blending
Indiana leads the nation in terms of biodiesel blending capabilities. There are terminals in the nation with biodiesel blending capabilities, four are in Indiana. They include terminals for Countrymark at Jolietville, Peru, Switz City and Mt. Vernon.
Soy Biodiesel Distribution and Sales
Tankwagon/transport delivery: 48 Indiana companies sell biodiesel blended fuels in this manner.
Fuel stations: 66 Indiana companies sell biodiesel blended fuels in this manner. No other state has more biodiesel public pumps than Indiana.
Since Jan. 1, Hoosier consumers have demanded more than 2.6 million gallons of pure soy biodiesel. That pure biodiesel, commonly blended as B2, B5 and B20, translates to about 132 million gallons of blended soy biodiesel.
Biodiesel Production
Indiana now has three companies that are building biodiesel production facilities. Those companies are: Integrity Biofuels in Morristown producing 10 million gallons of biodiesel and scheduled to open this month; Evergreen Renewables in Hammond, will produce 5 million gallons biodiesel and it is scheduled to open May 2006; and the Louis Dreyfus plant in Claypool, producing 80 million gallons of biodiesel fuel sheduled to open in the next two years.
There are currently 35 companies in the United States that are either manufacturing biodiesel or have broken ground to produce biodiesel.
Most of our biodiesel today comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, or Ralston, Iowa.
B2 benefits (2 percent blend) - Reduces America's dependency on foreign oil and supports the U.S. economy - specifically the country's agricultural industry
The ISB recommends B2 and B5 for farm and over-the-road use
B20 benefits (20 percent blend) - B20 biodiesel reduces carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions by 12 percent and hydrocarbon emissions by 20 percent.
B20 biodiesel can be used year round and requires no tank or engine modifications.
The ISB recommends B20 for school and government use
This blend is ideal for Indiana's 17 non-attainment counties (counties that don't meet federal standards for air quality): Allen, Boone, Clark, Dearborn County - Lawrenceburg Township only, Delaware, Elkhart, Floyd, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Jackson, Johnson, LaPorte, Lake, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Porter, Shelby, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh, Vigo and Warrick
Indiana soybean facts
• 28,000 Indiana soybean farmers
• 5.4 million acres of soybeans are grown in Indiana
• 203 million bushels of soybeans produced per year in the state
• The third largest producer of soybeans in the United States
Indiana Soybean Board 5757 W. 74th St. Indianapolis, IN 46278 800-735-0195 www.indianasoybean.com
