Prairie Pride begins biodeisel production

submitted photo-- Prairie Pride and A-Lert Construction staff gather in front of the Prairie Pride biodiesel plant near Eve, while a technician, in the center, holds a sample bottle of just-produced quality biodiesel.

On Nov. 16, a celebration was going on at Prairie Pride Inc., a facility located near Eve.

"The long-awaited production of the company's first biodiesel is happening!" proclaimed a press release dated Monday.

PPI started as the dream of a handful of agricultural producers.

After a successful feasibility study back in 2005 this group organized a Missouri New Generation

Cooperative and took their plan on the road. The plan, a $90 Million combination soybean crush/biodiesel process plant might have been a hard sell. Belief in the dream and a solid plan enabled this group, now known as the Board of Directors, to enroll well over a thousand producer members. Equity of more than $36 million dollars was raised in less than four months.

The facility had hoped to roll out its first product a few weeks ago, but weather difficulties delayed construction, the company told the Nevada Daily Mail in October.

Site prep work began in November 2006, just in time for a long icy winter and very wet spring, slowing construction. Now with the first phase of operations coming on line, Prairie Pride expects to produce biodiesel from purchased crude soybean oil until the soybean crush/extration phase is completed sometime in 2008. Once the soybean crush/extraction phase is complete the plant will be fully operational. Regional producers will benefit from the local demand for soybeans as will animal producers that utilize the soymeal product as feed.

As the anticipation grew and the company felt nearly ready to begin production, "a couple of years ago, we came up with this idea," Oerke told the Fort Scott Tribune in September. "At that early stage, we wanted to form a new generation cooperative. It's kind of a dream come true. We're really proud of our facility." Oerke said there are now 1,050 producers who have invested money in the plant, which will benefit all producers, not just soybean farmers.

Biodiesel is a non toxic, biodegradable, cleaner burning renewable fuel that is produced from raw soybean oil. The oil is washed from the soybean as part of the process of making high protein animal feed and was until recently considered a product with diminishing use.

The biodiesel process adds value to an existing crop while helping the environment and economy.