Crawford County Farmers Growing Camelina for Biofuel
(Farm and Dairy) In most places in the East, they’re still talking about the coming biofuels revolution. But in Crawford County, Pennsylvania — thanks largely to Penn State Cooperative Extension — farmers already are involved in it.
The local extension office has taken the lead in organizing a group of growers into a co-op that will produce a promising biofuel feedstock.
There are about 300 acres of the oilseed camelina planted on a dozen Crawford County farms, according to Joel Hunter, extension educator based in Meadville.
“This is a right-here, right-now thing,” Hunter said. “We have a huge new market for vegetable oil for biodiesel.” … “We liked camelina because it fits into our crop rotation, and it can be no-till planted, planted early and then followed by another crop,” he said. “It seems to integrate well into our primarily dairy agriculture here.” READ MORE
