Special Biofuels Digest Report on camelina, an advanced biodiesel “wonder crop”

Earlier this week I received a call from Norma Branch, a member of a Kansas farming family. She had seen a report from Susan Candiotti at CNN about jatropha curcus, and was calling to find out more about the wonder tree that produces the dream fuel.

The story is here, by the way.

Or you can read about Florida farmer Bryan Beer, here.

We settled easily into a good conversation about the potential for jatropha (a) anywhere and (b) in Kansas. A lot of smarter people than I are very bullish on (a), but I haven’t heard much enthusiasm for (b) and relayed the bad news to new friend Norma.

She took it well, understanding better than most the problems of harvesting from a tree that there isn’t a mechanical shaker yet invented for. And it would be a good idea for researchers in controlled trials to find about about yields, rather than small farmers who can ill-afford the investment.

But I advised Norma, by all means, to look into camelina. That’s a feedstock a Kansan could and should get enthusiastic about.

Camelina, remember it. Known to some as “gold of pleasure”, or wildflax it’s a feedstock of interest that I have written about in the DIgest on several occasions over the past year.

Here’s the lowdown on camelina. First, it grows on land unsuitable for food crops. It has yields that are roughly double that of soy. The oil it produces is more cold-resistant than the average biodiesel feedstock. It tolerates cold climates well – it has been grown for years in pockets of Montana. It’s supported by research and field trials at a number of land-grant colleges around the country – Oregon State, Montana State, Idaho among them. It grows wild in the US, which is to say it grows here, and grows well, and plays well with other crops. It has a particularly attractive concentration of omega-3 fatty acids that make camelina meal, left over after crushing, a particularly fine livestock feed candidate that is just now gaining recognition in the US and Canada.

All of that is good. But here’s what’s better. According to Sam Huttenbauer, CEO of Great Plains, The Camelina Company, camelina can be grown in a rotation of wheat crops. Farmers who have followed a wheat-fallow pattern, as is often seen in Washington and Oregon, can switch to a wheat-camelina-wheat pattern, realize up to 100 gallons of camelina oil per acre, and gain up to 15 percent more productivity on the wheat.

So, here’s a crop that goes a mile past fuel vs food, and one step beyond fuel and food, because it produces fuel and more food.

Impressive; even sort of unique.

Dr. Bill Schillinger at Washington State University recently described camelina’s business model to Capital Press as: “At 1,400 pounds per acre at 16 cents a pound, camelina would bring in $224 per acre; 28-bushel white wheat at $8.23 per bushel would garner $230.”

Here’s that link, which is worth investigating.

Wheat’s up since then, but there’s a big spread for camelina at 100 gallons per acre when the price of biodiesel exceeds $5 per gallon, and that’s not accounting for the potential value of camelina mash. Oil content is in the 35-43 percent range, according to Panter.

I mentioned that camelina is low-rainfall tolerant. It thrives in areas with 10-17 inch rainfall, according to Don Panter, President of Sustainable Oils.  In a trial near Lind in eastern Washington state, Schillinger was able to realize a crop of 10 plants per square foot with 2.08 inches of winter precipitation (down from the area average of 5.04 inches).

There are two organizations backing camelina. There’s Sustainable Oils, headed by Don Panter, and Great Plains, headed by Sam Huttenbauer. Both are excellent. My impression is that Sustainable Oils has developed a more aggressive network of field trials (among them Texas A&M, Tennesseee, Nebraska, Montana State, Oregon State and New Mexico), but that Great Plains has established more relationships with growers. Great Plains has also reached the production stage, while Sustainable is still in grower recruitment and trials.

But it would be hard to find a feedstock better represented than camelina. These two “get it”, know what has to be done and are industrious about doing it. Both have a vertically integrated vision. They’ll develop the seed, partner with universities for trials, recruit growers, buy back crop, crush, and market both oil and camelina meal. Third-party vendors will provide crushing services for the interim.

The major barrier to camelina is, according to all sources, grower education. Ball one, every grower is accustomed to making shifts in the crops they grow. Ball two, fewer still have the capital base to take the long term view. Ball three, in an era of rising input prices, the high prices for corn and soy are too tempting for most. And ball four, camelina’s geography has traditionally been restricted to the dry, cold Inland Empire of the northwest part of the country.

So, four balls, no hits, but camelina has reached first base. What will bring it home? For wheat farmers, it’s a natural short crop that can be grown following spring wheat, and adds value to land. For cotton farmers and others with starved soils, its a tolerant crop that produces a good, fast yield. A superior meal and a rich, virgin oil that performs well in the cold might also prove to be the trick as biodiesel blend percentages become more aggressive in the snowy north. It’s a smart, steady play for the grower looking to do better without taking the monstrous risks that are component parts of a  switchgrass or jatropha plantation.

For my new friend Norma Branch, looking to do better in Kansas, I can’t think of anything smarter than looking into camelina. I look forward to reporting more about the crop’s progress later in the year. The more you look, the more you like.

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