On Farm Bio-Fuel Cropping

Systems

Luke Holst

Holst Farms

Augusta, IL

*

Holst Farms

Augusta

In 2010

1300 acres corn 1200 acres soybeans 160 wheat/sunflower

100 acres alfalfa. 100 and 150 brood cows

lots of hogs300 pounds of tomatoes/week

(peak production)

Bio-Diesel Production on Holst Farms

• Holst Farms has been producing bio-fuel

on-farm for four years.

• Hybrid sunflowers are grown and processed on the farm.

• A blend of vegetable oil, gasoline and conventional diesel fuel is used in farm equipment

Cropping Systems

• Wheat-Sunflower double crop

– winter wheat is planted in the fall and followed by a sunflower crop

– Sunflowers are planted in late June to early July

– Sunflowers are harvested in late November

• Canola-Sunflower double crop

– A new crop rotation is being researched

Sunflower Field in early September

Winter Wheat Field in Early Spring

A proven double-crop

system in W. Illinois

Much more reliable than double crop

soybeans

Wheat-Sunflower System

– Sunflowers

• Conventional plan uses 90 lbs of N and 50 lbs of DAP per acre.

• On Holst Farms incorporated swine manure is usually used instead of fertilizer.

• “Spartan” broadleaf herbicide and “Select” grass herbicide is applied before planting

– Wheat

• Fall applied Urea, DAP, Potash

• Spring applied Fungicide and Nitrogen

Sunflower Yields

• Over the last three growing seasons HolstFarms has averaged 40 bu per acre for sunflowers - some fields have averaged over 50 bu per acre

• Oil yield has been between 1.5 and 1.75 gallons per bushel.

The future???Canola-Sunflower Double Crop System

• In fall 2009, Holst Farms and the IIRA: VASDC planted a canola trial

IIRA:VASDC =

Illinois Institute for

Rural Affairs: Value-

Added Sustainable

Development Center,

http://www.value-

added.org/

2009/10 Canola plot: 3 varieties “Flash” , “Wichita” and “Dekalb”

Canola Plot ResultsFlash Witchita DekalbRep Length Width Rep Length Width Length Width Weight

1 436 15 1 436 15 1000 30 Tare 4320

2 427 15 2 427 15

Total

Feet 30000 Gross 5240

3 427 15 3 427 15 Acres

0.68870

5 Net 920

4 330 15 4 230 15 Bushels

17.6923

1

Totals 1620 60 Totals 1520 60 Bu/Acre

25.6892

3

Total

Feet 97200 Weight

Total

Feet 91200 Weight

Acres 0.448148 Tare 1880 Acres 0.477632 Tare 3620

Bushels 26.15385 Gross 3240 Bushels 13.46154 Gross 4320

Bu/Acre 58.35982 Net 1360 Bu/Acre 28.18394 Net 700

Totals

Acres 1.614485

Bushels 57.30769

Weight 2980

Bu/Acre 35.49596

Canola-Sunflower Double Crop

• For the 2010-2011 growing season Holst Farms and IIRA VSDC have planned to test a winter Canola crop followed by a sunflower crop. If successful this should greatly increase oil yield per acre.

• > 200 gallons per acre??

• < 3% of crop land dedicated to fuel production

On-farm Oil Processing

Two 6-ton presses

Oil is allowed to settle for several weeks

Oil Cleaning

Sock Filter: 1st part of cleaning process

Centrifuge: 2nd part of cleaning process, oil must be heated during this

process

Oil-Gas Mixture: The Finished Product

Blending

• 1 part gasoline : 6 parts sunflower oil is the Holst’s standard blend

• Gasoline is added to achieve the same specific gravity as diesel fuel

• The amount of gasoline is small enough that no adverse effects have been noticed on engines.

• The oil-gasoline blend is mixed with diesel (approximately 50/50 mix) before use in farm equipment.

Sunflower press cake retains ~ 20% of the oil.

Press cake is fed to cattle

Sunflower oil sludge is one of the

materials burned to heat the Holst’s

greenhouses

Questions?