American Biodiesel news

ST. LOUIS - The success of the growing biodiesel industry has resulted in a supply problem, but the increased need will be met by soybean growers, executives of the new United Soybean Board said.
Directors of the checkoff board, which elected new officers at its annual meeting, discussed opportunities and challenges in store for soybean growers. Biodiesel represents both.

"Meeting demand is a concern," said USB Vice Chairman Eric Niemann during a press conference. "It's a rapidly growing market. But we have made great strides."
Niemann, a soybean producer from Kansas, noted about 25 million gallons of biodiesel were produced this year.

Production capacity is expected to grow from 180 million gallons a year to nearly 300 million gallons by 2006.
"We're having growing pains, such as ethanol did a few years ago," Niemann said. "It's a very young endeavor, but we're enjoying the challenge."

He pointed out that the number of biodiesel outlets has grown from 450 a year ago to more than 1,800.
The new executives discussed a number of issues, including quality, exports and research on higher-yielding beans.

USB Chairman Curt Raasch said farmers should make a point to use biodiesel in their own vehicles.
"Let's face it - if we don't use it as producers, we're going to have difficulty promoting it to others," said Raasch, a producer from Iowa.

"USB has worked on increasing demand and has addressed the availability issue. Farmers need to use biodiesel."
Raasch also stressed the board is continuing the initiative begun this year aimed at working directly with livestock groups to improve feed efficiency and increase consumption of meat. One result of that initiative has the examination of feed intake by pigs.

"We've partnered with the National Pork Producers on a study in which we've looked at the problem that some piglets are allergic to soybean meal at an early age," he said.
"The neat thing about this study is that a lot of what we've found out is going to be applicable to human nutrition as well. We'd like to continue to be involved in things like that."

Directors acknowledged domestic beans have suffered in some aspects of quality, namely lower percentage of protein than some foreign-raised crop.
But they have attributes that make them a good feed. The board is promoting that.

"We have better amino acid in our protein that works very well in feeding animals," Niemann said.
Raasch added, "Amino acid is very important in pork and poultry production. U.S. beans fed to pigs and poultry have been extremely competitive. The feeding value gives a lot of return."

Outgoing chairman Greg Anderson of Nebraska pointed to progress made in educating growers of the importance of the livestock industry. A USB campaign sought to inform growers of the market share of soybeans going to feed livestock.
"We started the year with 3 percent of farmers aware of the numbers," he said. "It's now 10 percent and growing."

Competition is one of the biggest challenges faced by U.S. soybean producers, according to Raasch.
He stressed that USB is working to increase market share lost to Brazil and other countries in recent years. Meeting buyers' needs is key to success.

"We were the largest producer of soybeans in the world; that has shifted," Raasch said. "Our marketing strategy has shifted from market volume to value. We are the only country providing service with the product. We've asked that question: Is service important to you?
"We think that every culture is like the United States, but they are very sophisticated when it comes to trading. We have outstanding staff in our program working on this. To become more competitive in the future it is imperative that the U.S. growers listen to our customers and try to meet their needs."

As an example, Niemann added domestic buyers have increased shipments to the Pacific Northwest, a major launching pad to Asia.
"They're very comfortable with smaller shipments - such as a container," Niemann said.

Anderson pointed to a number of achievements over the past year.

"We are at the forefront of coordinating education on soybean rust," he said. "Significant progress has been made in screening germplasms for resistance to rust, and the soybean checkoff is responsible for promoting the fastest-growing alternative fuel in America. These successes would not have occurred if it had not been for soybean checkoff board and its officers."