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Extension Office Launches Test Growing Of Biofuels Crops

Photo by R.K. Henning / www.jatropha.org

Jatropha Curcas is one of four feedstocks for biolfuels that will grown in a test plot by the Highlands County Extension Office, to determine if these crops can be profitable in this county.

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By JIM KONKOLY Highlands Today

Published: March 24, 2009

SEBRING - Can local growers cash in on the developing market for biofuels?

Would going into farm-to-fuel crops be a sure bet or risky business?

The Highlands County Extension Service, with help from county government and the sheriff's office, will soon run an experiment to help answer those questions.

At least four crops used in the production of ethanol and biodiesel will be grown on test plots at the Highlands County landfill off Arbuckle Creek Road.

John Alleyne, director of the county extension office, said he's launching the project to help local growers decide if they will get into the biofuels market and, if so, how they can succeed.

"The extension office is here to provide research-based information so that clientele (the public) can make informed decisions with credible information," Alleyne said.

There are many studies on the four biofuel feedstocks - sweet sorghum, jatropha curcas, erianethis, and newer varieties of sugar cane - that will be studied.

But, according to Ray Royce, executive director of the Heartland Agricultural Coalition, local growers don't have the answer to their No. 1 question: Will these and other biofuel crops grow well in Highlands County?

"We need information pertinent to our needs in Highlands County," Alleyne said. "And that's what this test plot is going to be about."

Jatropha Curcas, for example, produces a bean from which oil is derived for production of biodiesel. There's no doubt that it will grow here, Alleyne said. But would it thrive? Would it be profitable?

"There's a difference between growing something and growing it well, being able to make a profit off of it," Alleyne said.

"Our soil type lends itself to jatropha," he added. "But again, you need to know how well it does on our soil type."

Royce said many people in the agricultural community are considering putting at least some of their land into biofuels feedstock production. But, he said, they need specific information on their chances for success in Highlands County's soils and weather.

"I think there is a lot interest in growing the biofuels feedstocks," he said. "And I think that interest will peak even more when people have the opportunity to see these crops grown in our county."

Royce said the extension office's experiment will be most helpful to medium- and small-size landowners, who don't have the resources of the giant agricultural corporations to run their own tests on growing feedstocks for biofuels.

The crops will be studied for cold and frost tolerance, drought tolerance, yield per acre, and management of pests and diseases, Alleyne said.

That information will be crucial to landowners considering biofuels.

"It (growing biofuels crops) will encounter problems, we know that, because everything we do in agriculture encounters problems," Royce said. "The big question is: Are they minor problems that we can work through?

"Until we start growing these crops that are not traditionally grown here, we won't know what the challenges are."

Highlands County Jail inmates working on the county farm at the landfill site to produce food for the jail will be working on the test plot, said Highlands County Sheriff Susan Benton.

In addition, Benton said, fertilizers and pesticides confiscated in marijuana grow-house busts and no longer needed as evidence will be donated.

"Our farm manager will be coordinating with them (extension service) on the planting, maintenance and growing of the test plots," Benton said. "We identified land adjacent to our farm that is owned by the county, so it's really a joint project with the county and the sheriff's office and the extension office."

Alleyne said the biofuels crop tests will be conducted on between three to five acres, and the tests will likely be repeated through several growing seasons.

Two biofuels plants are scheduled to be under construction in early 2010 and start production in 2011 in southern Highlands County, off of State Road 70.

"By that time," Alleyne said, "we should have information that fits right in."

Highlands Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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