Vermont Biofuels Initiative: Supply Side
Borderview Farm
Roger Rainville's Borderview Farm will be Vermont's second on-farm facility making biodiesel made from oilseed crops grown on-site and surrounding farms. Roger has been a reliable, skilled, and enthusiastic supporter of the on-farm biodiesel production concept. He has a proven track record as a farmer and businessman, and his work is highly respected among his farming peers, the agriculture organizations that he serves, and his partners and collaborators at UVM and other agricultural institutions. During the UVM seed trials and through his regular involvement with State Line Farm and other on-farm energy projects, Roger (below, photo by Vern Grubinger) has gained extensive experience cultivating, harvesting, pressing, and processing oilseeds for the production of biodiesel and meal.
VSJF, its partners, and many funders have been working closely with Borderview Farm to conduct seed trials, develop production capacity, and to optimize the biodiesel system. The following photos, text, and links highlight the major steps that are leading to Borderview Farm becoming a fully operational on-farm biodiesel production facility.
Growing Energy
In 2006, VSJF (with US Department of Energy funding, courtesy of Senator Patrick Leahy) granted $98,000 to the University of Vermont’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture to conduct a project titled On-Farm Seed Oil Production and Feasibility Study. The aim of the project was to develop a pilot scale, farm-based biodiesel and ethanol production system coupled with a set of oilseed crop (sunflower, canola, soybean) trials. Dr. Vern Grubinger and Dr. Heather Darby (pictured below) spearheaded crop trials at State Line Farm, Clear Brook Farm (Shaftsbury), and Borderview Farm (Alburgh).
Subsequent research paid for by the High Meadows Fund and conducted by by Dr. Darby and Emily Stebbins (a UVM grad student) indicates that, with good soil fertility and management, the production of oilseed crops and co-products is technically feasible in Vermont. Oilseed crops can grow well, and good yields are achievable given improved harvesting equipment and techniques. Crop trials from Vermont, as well as Maine, and New Hampshire, indicate that yields for oilseed crops at, or exceeding, the national average are achievable in New England's climate and agricultural soils.
Learn more about the research of Heather, Emily, and others on oilseed crop market potential and economic feasibility in Vermont:
On August 7, 2008, Borderview Farm was the host to 100 visitors (~75 were farmers) during an all day “Field Day”, organized by University of Vermont Extension. The event took in a tour of the research farm, crop trials underway, and a demonstration of the crushing and pelleting equipment in use at Borderview. In addition, Roger estimates that he has responded to over 50 phone calls and visits by area farmers, and others, who have taken an interest in their oilseed work and want to learn more.
Data collected on Roger's farm from 2008 to 2012 will also be utilized by a UVM grad student to study the greenhouse gas and energy implications of small-scale biofuel systems.
Finally, Dr. Sid Bosworth of UVM is also growing switchgrass trials (above) on Borderview Farm.
Trial and Error
Harvesting and storage have thus far been
the most challenging aspects of optimizing
oilseed crop production in Vermont. Difficulties
include scarcity of and familiarity
with equipment, optimal timing, and
having access to enough equipment to
provide flexibility in using the best technique
for a given crop and season.
For the 2006 field trials in Alburgh, Borderview Farm leased a commercial combine (John Deere 9500) and operator for harvesting. Direct harvesting of the canola with this equipment resulted in a large amount of green material in the harvested crop, which began to heat immediately in the gravity box. The combine was fine-tuned further, but enough green material was still present in the seed to pose a threat. Additional tuning to remove the green matter would have resulted in seed loss out of the back of the combine. Without a seed cleaner to immediately remove the foreign material, the crop would be lost, so harvest was stopped.
The next approach was to try swathing
the canola first, then returning to pick it
up with the combine. Swathing allows
the plant to dry whole on the ground,
avoiding the pod shattering that can occur
when the plant is combined too dry. There are few swathers available to borrow
or purchase in the New England area;
an older swather was borrowed from Jack
Lazor at Butterworks Farm in Westfield.
The swather required some adjustment and
workers faced a learning curve in using
the swather correctly. Challenges included
plugging, difficulty picking up the canola
due to lodging, and poor cutting due
to a dull cutter bar. After talking with a
few farmers, it was recommended that a
swather with “fingers” be used to prevent
the canola from lodging.
When the combine returned to harvest after the swathed canola had dried, there were additional difficulties in picking up the canola. A special head for the combine, similar to what John Williamson is using here, would have helped.
UVM has now made a plot combine (below)--which harvests small areas--available to harvest all of the research plots on Borderview Farm.
Under Construction
The foundation for the 20 by 40 square foot Borderview Farm biodiesel processing facility was poured in 2007.
VSJF staff and board member Kelly Launder, along with neighbor Guy Palardy visit with Roger in November 2007.
Looking out from the inside of the future biodiesel processing facility after the framing has gone up.
The biodiesel facility is now fully enclosed. In 2008, VSJF granted Borderview Farm $25,000 in Department of Energy funds, courtesy of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, to conduct a fully documented safety review and engineering study, and to purchase additional equipment to fully build out the biodiesel production system. Callahan Engineering is evaluating a ventilation system for fireproofing and worker health and safety. This could reduce the need for more expensive explosion proof electronics throughout. Chris is also in the process of sizing and evaluating different options for small-scale biodiesel processing equipment.
To make high-quality oil, enhance seed storage, and protect the seed presses, cleaning the seed to remove chaff, weeds, and other impurities is necessary. At State Line and Borderview Farms, batches of uncleaned seed stored with chaff caused the seed to heat up. This can reduce the quality of the seed meal, and potentially reduce oil quality if enough molding occurs.
Roger recently purchased and assembled a new 60-ton capacity drying bin (next to the biodiesel facility above). It currently holds 25-ton of canola, which represents the total canola harvest from the Borderview and nearby Fiske Farm.
The system has worked very well so far, drying the harvest from a field moisture of 15% down to storage and pressing moisture of 9.5% in just three days. Roger would highly recommend this system to anyone looking to purchase a new drying and storage unit.
Pressing Forward
Roger researched
oilseed presses that could handle
6 tons per day of canola and other oilseed
crops. He found two companies in the
U.S. that sell Chinese presses, and then
visited Dorn Cox in New Hampshire to see the Chinese press
he had purchased. Roger also decided
to order a press from AGICO because
the price was low given the capacity and
options.
With assistance from the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation, a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation, Roger ordered a model #GC-120A
(below) with a capacity of 6 tons per day, heated
or cold press, with oil filters to filter the
oil for $2,295. He also ordered a vibrating
sieve seed cleaner with a rated capacity
of 8-15 tons/hr for $2,065. In addition, spare parts (essentially all moving
parts) for the seed press and
the seed cleaner were purchased. Shipping cost
was $920 to Montreal (close to his farm
in Alburgh) plus $30 tax. There is no duty
if the equipment is used for agriculture.
Roger loads sunflower seeds into the press (above). The oil slides down the triangular metal panel in the lower right hand side of the picture.
The sunflower meal pictured above comes out the front end of the press and kind of looks like tortilla chips. Note: the press is currently in Rainville's old barn and has not yet been transferred to the new 'bio-barn'.
Products and Co-products
Vermont currently meets most of its demand for oilseed co-products and substitutes through importation: Vermont farms import over 100,000 tons of livestock meal and over 6 million gallons of diesel fuel per year. On-farm energy production offers opportunities for Vermont farmers to develop new value-added revenue sources (e.g., organic, local livestock meal), reduce on-farm expenditures and greenhouse gas emissions, ensure their energy security, and circulate money locally.
When fully operational, Borderview Farm will be able to make biodiesel (above) to fuel its equipment, as well as neighboring farms. Roger also found that the meal can be processed into an extremely stable pellet (below) when pressed at least twice. Pelleting after pressing may result in a pellet that has a longer shelf life than unpelleted meals. The pelletized meal may be used by member farmers as a source of protein for livestock, as a high-value heating fuel in pellet or corn stoves/boilers, or as a soil fertilizer that is high in nitrogen.
Acknowledgment: This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FG36-05GO85017.
Disclaimer: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Unites States Government or any agency thereof.
Banner Photo Credits: Canola Field (left), Netaka White; Seed press with sunflower seeds (middle), Ed Delhagen; Biodiesel flask (right), Netaka White.
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