Oil Seed Crops and Biodiesel: Two new industries for the Northwest

The Spokane County Conservation District is working to help establish the oil seed and biodiesel industries in Eastern Washington.  Key elements in establishing these industries include the production of agricultural feedstocks, building oilseed processing facilities, establishing markets for oils seed meal, and developing biodiesel processing plants.

In the United States, soy beans provide the primary feedstock for biodiesel production.  Here in the Northwest, however, soy beans are not a viable option for our farmers.  Instead, the brassica crops (canola, mustard and rape) are the targeted options.  These crops can be integrated into current crop rotations with little or no change to the cropping systems, and provide high yields without irrigation.  Further, these crops can be direct-seeded or no-till farmed, providing valuable soil erosion protection.

While the Northwest biodiesel industry will utilize brassica crops for biodiesel feedstock, the industry will be modeled on the soy bean and soy-based biodiesel industries of the Midwest.  The soy bean industry was well-established before soy-based biodiesel production began.  The soy bean crushing facilities existed and the industry evolved around the use of the soy meal generated by the crushing facilities.  The extracted soy oil was not the primary commodity and had relatively low value.  In addition, the industry had a surplus of the oil.  Biodiesel production was a means to put this oil to use and the cost of the low value oil meant that biodiesel could be produced at a relatively competitive price with petroleum diesel.

Unfortunately, a large-scale, viable oil seed industry for canola and mustard seed does not currently exist in Eastern Washington.  This industry must be established in order to create an economically feasible biodiesel industry.  The oil seed industry will include developing local oil seed crushing facilities and creating markets for the meal left after the oil has been extracted.  Local oil seed crushing is necessary to avoid the costs of shipping the product to and from a distant processing facility.  For farmers to grow oil seed crops, they must be able to make enough money from these crops to pay for growing it and encourage them to change from current rotational crops such as peas and lentils to the oil seed crops of mustard and canola.  At current yields and commodity prices, the cost of oil seeds to a crusher would result in a cost of the extracted oil that is too high for the production of a competitively priced biodiesel fuel. 

In order to reduce the cost of the extracted oil, markets must be established for the meal.  The income generated will help to offset the cost of the oil production and has the potential to make the oil the lowest value commodity produced by the crushing facility.  Biodiesel production then becomes economically feasible. The mustard and canola meal generated by the crushing facility can be used as soil amendments, soil fumigants, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and food additives for human and animal consumption.  The value of the meal for many of these applications is very high, but several steps remain in order to realize this value.  For example, use of mustard meal as an herbicide requires testing and labeling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Several entities, including the Conservation District, are working to overcome the current barriers and establish viable markets for the meal.  Simultaneously, the SCCD is working with agricultural producers and farmer cooperatives to develop crushing facilities and with biodiesel producers to establish a local production plant. 

The potential is great for the oil seed and biodiesel industries.  In the three-county region surrounding Spokane, at least 500,000 acres a year could be put into oil seed production as part of the four year crop rotation system.  That 500,000 would generate enough oil to produce 25 million gallons of biodiesel.  With these industries will come jobs and economic growth to the region, energy security through the use of domestically produced fuel, and cleaner air due to reduced emissions from diesel vehicles.  In addition, the development of the biodiesel oil seed industry and on-farm energy production can ultimately mean the difference between having a viable farm operation or having to sell the family farm.