cq perspectives jul 2007

8/4/2019 CQ Perspectives Jul 2007

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, IN

C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s

Volume 17 Issue 4 July 2007

Continued on Page 2

New Biomass Technology...Making Ethanol Without Corn OffersProducers New, Exciting Opportunities

With bushel prices a dollar higher than a year ago,corn has been stealing all the headlines as the primaryfeedstock for ethanol production. The push to doublecurrent ethanol production to 15 billion gallons by2012 and increase it further to 35 billion by 2017 thegoal set by President George W. Bush in his State ofthe Union address spurred a land rush this pastspring to designate 90 million acres for raising corn;13% more than last year and the highest amount ofacreage for that crop since the 1940s.

But other crops and materials not known for theirglitter could be golden as well. Categorized under thelofty scientic term biomass, bers or cellulose fromsuch ordinary plants as switchgrass, wheat straw,corn stover, milo residue, chipped hardwoods andcorncobs will be the fodder ethanol producers turninto clean-burning, renewable liquid fuel.

Think about all the different things you can har-vest in a crop residue situation, says Thomas Robb,Ph.D., Manager of Co-Product Development forAbengoa BioEnergy New Technologies, a Missouribioenergy research and development company open-ing a biomass conversion plant in Southwest Kansasin 2010. Were going to develop the technology tomake most of these residues work.

Construction of the facility is funded in part

by a major grant from the United States De-partment of Energy (DOE) with matchingfunds from Abengoa.

Until recently, producing ethanol frombiomass feedstock, instead of corn andother grains, was costly and impractical. Inthe last few years, however, scientists have

made breakthroughs in biotechnologyand introduced innovative processes tomanufacturing operations. Scientistsand engineers at Abengoa, for exam-

ple, have advanced the vital pre-treatment step in thecellulose ethanol production process so that the mo-lecular structures of the cellulose in biomass materialsare expanded, allowing enzymes to convert celluloseefciently into glucose. When you get to glucose, youcan make ethanol, Dr. Robb says.

New Commodity MarketAlthough the new biomass operation is being de-

signed initially to convert 700 tons of biomass a dayinto ethanol, Abengoa has its sights set on increasingcapacity and eventually assessing the value of prod-ucts other than ethanol from the process.

Once you have glucose, or as the DOE refers to it,a sugar platform, other products can be producedfrom it such as new polymers to supply the plastics in-dustry. Researchers at the company say the polymersderived from cellulose could be economically bene-cial and would allow it to create an array of productsmuch like a traditional oil renery does.

For farmers, the payoff will come quicker. Abengoagures it only needs about 4% to 7% of the availablebiomass in a 50-mile radius of the new SouthwestKansas biomass plant to satisfy the new plants 700tons per day appetite, from which 80 gallons of etha-nol per ton of biomass material will be produced.

A signicant amount of the biomass we would becollecting is material that is going to go away, no mat-ter what, says Dr. Robb, who estimates farmers oftenwill burn off the residue, let it sit or incorporate itback into the soil.

There certainly is an amount of crop residue thatneeds to stay on the land to maintain long-term soilhealth and productivity; however, there is also anamount that can be collected without any detrimentalimpact on the soil.

Now, he emphasizes, they can sell some of it to

Dr. Thomas Robb


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Crop Quest Expands Kansas Region

New Biomass Technology...Continued from Page 1

Luke Harrin

As Crop Quest goes about the business of providing farmers

with the most advanced agriculture technology, tools and strategies

to maximize the output from their elds, the agricultural consulting

company also has to keep an eye out for its own growth, ensuring it

has the manpower and expertise to help its clients. An active intern

program with the agricultural sciences departments of several

universities and an ongoing recruiting effort within the industry al-

lows Crop Quest to tap into the talents of the best and the brightest

people who have decided to make a career of serving the agricul-

ture community. This spring, Crop Quest added two more agrono-

mists to its roster of specialists.

Although Lance Richardson just started his full-time position

as an agronomist in May, he is not exactly new to Crop Quest. Therecent graduate from Kansas State spent two years in-

terning with the company as he worked on his degree

in agronomy, focusing on crops, soils, weeds,

crop breeding, climatology and the protection of

soil and water resources. Growing up, Richardson

spent six years toiling in the hay and corn elds

of Ingalls, Kan.

Currently, Richardon is helping clients

in Crop Quests Garden City, Kan. Divi-

sion that encompasses Scott, Kearny

and Finney Counties with weed control and irrigation scheduling.

Fortunately, theres been no shortage of water this season, he

says. So, he is scouting for insects and weeds and coming up

with pesticide and herbicide application programs.

Richardson is particularly interested in dealing with the sit

specic agriculture technology that Crop Quest is advancing w

its Precision Ag Services.

After what Luke Harrington experienced in early May, there

probably not much that can phase him. Harrington recently join

Crop Quests Greensburg, Kan. Division and was

hunkered down in a basement in Greensburg when

the tornado of May 4 touched down, destroying the

entire city. It was like someone dropped a bomb,

he says.

Harrington graduated from Fort HaysState with a degree in agriculture business

in 2003. He already had a wealth of ag

knowledge before earning his diploma,

having grown up on a 4,000-acre farm inGarden City, Kan., helping his father raise corn, wheat, milo an

beans. For a couple of years after graduation, he worked on sev

other farms.

Harrington grew up around a farm and row crops, he explai

and he just likes being there, learning something new everyday

from each farmer and building relationships with them. And I

being outside, says Harrington about his favorite job perk.

With Two New Agronomists

Lance Richardson

the plant and make a nice additional income off their land.Farmers, in effect, can establish a new commodity market.

At the moment, selling material, Dr. Robb explains, hasbeen on a spotty basis if you had a bad hay year, you couldsell corn stalks. If you didnt have a bad hay year, then yourcorn stalks didnt have a market. Being able to sell this typeof material every year regardless of the market condition

will allow more grain producers to budget much more ef-ciently.

Dr. Robb is enthusiastic about the opportunities for theagricultural community in the Southwest Kansas region.When the demonstration plant is up and running, farmerswill be able to increase their income-generating potential ona regular basis. The biomass windfall for farmers wont be atemporary phenomenon, Dr. Robb points out. From year toyear, they can count on it.

How Much More?As would be expected of a multinational company involved

in sophisticated technology and science, Abengoa did itshomework. In determining the Southwest Kansas site forits biomass conversion operation, it set a criterion that theplant (as well as future operations) would be located in a spot

where all the biomass materials needed to meet productiongoals could be gathered and transported to the plant within a50-mile radius.

Abengoa also included farmers in the business modelequation, calculating what the new biomass market would

do for farm incomes in the area. People there are feedingtheir families on $25 an acre, Dr. Robb estimates. So if theresidue is sold at $8 or $9 dollars an acre, farmers are gettinga signicant return from a small percentage of materials thatthey just might have considered refuse anyway.

Dr. Robb goes on to say farmers should establish a pricefor their biomass material based on a net prot increase perton per acre, and he uses bottom line gures of $6 to $7 dol-lars. That may or may not be what we wind up paying the

farmer, Dr. Robb claries. We may be paying more becauseI have taken nutrients from his soil and he has to put themback; and then there is the expense of harvesting and gettingthe material to the production facility. Careful budgeting withthe assistance of your crop consultant will be critical to makesure this works for everyone involved.

Biomass AdvantagePlant ber is the most abundant organic molecule on earth

The cellulose ethanol process enzymatic hydrolysis in thecase of Abengoa turns biomass into fermentable sugars thatare converted to ethanol. Plant materials that rely on the en-ergy of the sun to grow and absorb carbon dioxide insteadof emitting it offer environmental advantages unequalled by

other feedstock and further serve to enhance economic andenvironmental well-being of the country as well as the world.While were in business to make money, concludes Dr.Robb, our mission is to promote the growth of a sustainablebusiness.


3/4C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s

By: Ron OHanlon,President

Member, National Allianceof Independent CropConsultants, CPCC-ICertied

WORKING TOGETHERThe whole world has come to know Greensburg,

Kan., after the devastating tornado on May 4 that lit-

erally destroyed the entire town. Even the President

of the United States, George W. Bush, made a visit

to this town to express his concern and to promise

aid.

In rural America, when a storm cloud is build-

ing with a high cloud top that can be seen for miles

away, it usually means severe weather is imminent.

The evening of May 4 showed a very high-top

storm building in Northern Oklahoma. Tornadoes

were popping up as the storm moved north.

A single, but very large, tornado dropped out of

the storm 10 to 15 miles south of Greensburg and

tore through the heart of the town, leaving only a

few buildings on the outskirts of town with littledamage. More tornadoes were spawned as the storm

continued to move north and cause further damage

to other small towns and rural farmsteads. Hundreds

of irrigation systems were destroyed and farmland

was littered with debris for miles surrounding

Greensburg and the other communities.

Crop Quest agronomists live in many of the rural

communities throughout Central Kansas. They work

with the farmers in the local areas consulting on

their crops.

In Greensburg, we had two agronomists with

homes located in the town of 1,400 people. Another

agronomist who lives in a nearby town was also inGreensburg on that fateful night. I am grateful to

the Lord to report that all three agronomists (Farrell

Allison, Mike Ostmeyer, Luke Harrington) and their

families survived the storm with no injuries.

However, Farrells and Mikes homes and pos-

sessions where destroyed or lost as the tornado

moved through, followed by several inches of rain.

In addition, Crop Quest had a branch ofce building

located in Greensburg which was also destroyed.

Immediately after the storm, co-workers, fam-

ily and friends wanted to help in whatever way

they could. As part of this effort, agronomists from

other locations provided eld scouting services to

the farmers/clients in the area for the rst couple of

weeks until the affected agronomists could get back

on their feet.

We appreciate the patience these clients showed

while everyone was trying to get back to normal.

On June 9, 30 individuals including employees

and their families pitched in to help both Farrell and

Mike cleanup the debris that was left after the demo-lition crews had removed the buildings and most of

the large material. The lots were still covered with

broken boards, bricks, stones and branches that had

to be removed in order for the lots to be left in an

acceptable condition.

This has been a really tough time for those af-

fected by the storm and a lot of decision-making

still has to be made before our agronomists know

whether they will rebuild or relocate. But, the same

can be said for almost all of those who once lived in

what used to be the town of Greensburg, Kan. We

pray for those in this town and the surrounding

communities. May God bless them all.


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Mission StatementCrop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network

professionals is to practice integrity and innovation to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.

PRSRT STD

US POSTAGE

PAID

DODGE CITY K

PERMIT NO. 4

Employee-Owned & Customer DrivenCrop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc.

Main Ofce: Phone 620.225.2233

Fax 620.225.3199Internet: www.cropquest.com

[email protected]

Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OHanlon

Director: Jim Gleason

Director: Dwight Koops

Director: Cort Minor

Director: Chris McInteer

Director: Rob Benyshek

Summer interns studying in their weed ID class.

GAINI

NVALUABLEEXPERIENCE

SUM

M

ER

INTERNS

Crop Quest, Inc. is proud to have 23 summer interns

hired for 2007.

Interns have been hired from K-State, Ft. Hays State,

Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Tarleton Universities,

and various Kansas community colleges in addition to

three part-time high school student interns. Our goal is

to provide the best educational experience possible for

each intern while promoting crop consulting as a career.

Interns work side by side with an experiencedagronomist learning about crop scouting, seed varieties,

irrigation, tillage practices, chemical/herbicide options

and detailed reports.

Interns comprise about 20% of our Crop Quest staff.

They are vital to the success of our summer scouting

practices, but even more important is the potential for

future full-time employees. We tend to hire about 50% of

our interns into full-time positions, and its a tremendous

asset if the candidates already have experience while

understanding and enjoying the job requirements.

Nationwide universities are reporting fewer students

enrolling in agriculture majors. In addition, statistics

show that 77 million baby boomers are about to retire

within the next ve years and there is only 44 million

of the next generation to ll these positions. Therefore

Crop Quests goal is to recruit and hire the best candi-

dates possible to help you with your farming operation

Internships provide us an opportunity to train and hop

fully retain that type of quality employee.

If you have an opportunity to meet one of these

dynamic young people, take a moment to say hello an

encourage them in their pursuit of an agricultural degr

and career.

The 2007 summer interns:

Montezuma, KS Division:Hannah Bartel, Sarah Bartel,

Ester Bartel, Justin Street

Ulysses, KS Division: Dustin Hodgins, Brady Jones,

Nicholas Martin, Shane Rohde

Garden City, KS Division: Jeremiah Jones, Emmett Muenn

Trevor Witt

Dumas, TX Division: Matt Braun, Justin Neusch,

Chris Patterson

Mount Hope, KS Division:Kevin Hecht, Clint Patry,

Nathan Simmons

Pratt, KS Division: Klayton Keesling

Dodge City, KS Division: Brian Mapel, Ethan McInteer,

Quincy Waldren

Greensburg, KS Division: Garrett Lohmann

Silver Lakes, KS Division:Damian Helms

cq perspectives jul 2007

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