energy

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

When Rick Huszagh and Crista Carrell purchased part of her family’s farm in 1995, their focus was on farmland preservation as much as the creation of a successful business enterprise.

The Maple Guys, a two-family agricultural business in New Hampshire, was recently awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The Maple Guys produces and sells maple syrup and other maple products, as well as the equipment needed to make them.

The line of cars stretched out of the parking lot and onto the street at the Glencoe Co-op Association on a recent warm afternoon in August. With financing from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), the co-op recently installed the first flex fuel pump in McLeod County, and several  flex fuel vehicle owners in the area wanted to be among the first to fill up.

“We’re glad to help stimulate the economy and support clean air and agriculture. That’s what the co-op is all about,” said Dale Heglund, Co-op Director.

Tucked away in the hillsides of Somerset County, Pennwood Farms is seeing great results from its new methane digester. The 600-cow dairy farm is owned by four brothers who installed the digester in April of this year with the help of a $264,450 USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) loan, a $264,574 REAP grant and $475,274 in PA Energy Development Authority funding. The digester produces biogas to power a 180-kilowatt engine-generator, providing more than enough electricity to meet the farm’s needs. In addition to electricity, the digester also produces fertilizer and cow bedding, saving the farm over $60,000 per year in bedding costs.

Rural Development’s REAP loan and grant to Pennwood Farms are excellent examples of funding that contributes to making farm operations more energy efficient and economical. This funding for renewable energy projects helps rebuild and revitalize rural America.

Last week, Senator Debbie Stabenow and I spent the day at the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway where we were excited to learn about a new way American Farmers are leading the charge on innovation.

There, we had the opportunity to tour the NASCAR Sprint Cup Garage to view engines using American-grown biofuels.  Michigan is one of the most agriculturally diverse states in the nation. Farms of every different shape and size produce more than 200 different food commodities.  This year, the bounty of U.S. farmers is helping fuel NASCAR.  Every race car and truck in NASCAR’s top three series will be fueled by Sunoco Green E15.

More than 100 agricultural entities including farmers, ethanol producers and seed and equipment makers are partners in this effort.  And, as part of this partnership, each week, Growth Energy presents one NASCAR driver with the ‘American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award’ to a Cup Series driver who has the fastest average on restarts at the prior week’s race.

Judy Canales, Administrator for Rural Development Business and Cooperative Service, joined Missouri Governor Jay Nixon for an evening reception and visited with many of Missouri’s agriculture and rural elite to celebrate Missouri agriculture.  The following morning Administrator Canales, Governor Nixon, and 1,000 other farm and community leaders attended the Missouri State Fair Ham Breakfast.   The breakfast was a continuation of the Governor’s salute to agriculture.  The delicious cured ham was the main course for the 59th Annual Governor’s Ham Breakfast in the Director’s Tent on the fairgrounds in Sedalia.  The theme for the 2011 fair is “It’s a Show-Me Thing!”

Governor Nixon addressed the guests, which included the introduction of distinguished guest such as Administrator Judy Canales, Missouri Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler, several federal officials, state officials, and locally elected officials, Missouri State Fair Director Mark Wolfe, the State Fair Commission and many other agriculture leaders and State Fair supporters.

Cross posted from the White House blog:

Yesterday, President Obama announced that our Departments will jointly invest $510 million over the next three years to develop the domestic capacity for advanced biofuels.  The funds will be leveraged with at least a one-to-one private industry match to construct or retrofit advanced biofuel plants to produce drop-in aviation and marine biofuels that will power our military’s ships and aircraft and our commercial transportation fleet.  For the first time, our Departments’ efforts have been put behind a single project to help create the new energy future and new energy economy set out in the President’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future (pdf) issued this March.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

When the gasoline additive MTBE was banned in 2006 and ethanol was its only practical replacement, Eric as a corn farmer, became very interested in joining with other farmers to build a corn ethanol plant.

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website:

Everett farmed all his life in North Dakota and taught high school while farming for a few years. Nowadays, Everett is a full-time farmer and a leader in co-operatives with farming.

USDA recently named additional states that will participate in the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, designed to expand the availability of non-food crops to be used for liquid biofuels.