Biofuel can change crop and livestock agriculture

Special to the Daily Mail

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The impact of ethanol and biodiesel on the future of Missouri agriculture will be the theme for the annual Breimyer Seminar, July 18, at the University of Missouri.

"Renewable fuels have the potential of being one of the biggest changes in U.S. agriculture," said Ron Plain, seminar coordinator.

Corn growers will be interested in the topic as they supply the ethanol plants now operating and new ones being built. Soybean growers have a role in providing oil needed to make biodiesel.

All livestock producers will have an interest, because of changes in feed supplies, said Plain, an MU livestock economist.

Corn prices on the futures market already reflect the influence of expected demand. That will affect livestock feeders, whether beef, pork or poultry.

There is also potential impact on forage production.

Repercussions also can extend to farmland prices and to the amount of land retired in the Conservation Reserve Program.

The seminar will provide background on ethanol and biodiesel production and views on the economic impact of that shift in production.

"Biofuel is one of the most timely topics in agriculture today," Plain said.

He named the program "Biofuels: An Agricultural Revolution?"

The seminar, at the Reynolds Alumni Center on the MU campus, will start at 10 a.m. with a welcome by Abner Womack, co-director of the MU Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute .

He will be followed by Plain, giving background on ethanol in agriculture.

Marcia Shannon, MU swine nutritionist, will talk about feeding distillers dried grains, a feed byproduct from ethanol plants.

Pat Westhoff, analyst with MU FAPRI, will discuss "Expected Impact of More Ethanol." FAPRI provides economic analysis on biofuels to the U.S. Congress.

The lunch speaker will be Gary Marshall, executive director of the Missouri Corn Growers Association.

An insider's view of ethanol production will be given by Billy Gwaltney, general manager of Mid-Missouri Energy at Malta Bend, Mo. The facility, totally owned by corn growers, is the newest ethanol plant in Missouri.

Next, David Swearingin, Carrollton, Mo., will tell about "Building a Biodiesel Plant." He is a board member of Prairie Pride Inc., a new generation cooperative in Vernon County.

Two MU economists will discuss the financial side of biofuels.

Vern Pierce with the MU Commercial Agriculture program will tell of the "Economic Benefits of Ethanol Production." Joe Parcell, economist, will discuss "Investing in a Biofuels Plant."

Sam Orr, a member of the energy program at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, will discuss the potential of ethanol from cellulose.

Missouri has abundant cellulose in grasses and cornstalks.

The Breimyer Seminar is noted for the discussions between speakers and participants.

The format was developed by MU economist Harold Breimyer in whose memory the seminar is named. Breimyer became a professor at the University of Missouri after a career in public policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Registration fee for the seminar is $20, which includes lunch and parking. The deadline for signup is July 12.

To register call Joyce White in the MU agricultural economics department at (573) 882-6533 or e-mail whitej@missouri.edu