Cargill Gives U of M $2.5M to Study New Oilseed Crops

by Dan Niepow (TCB Magazine) Oils from the plants could be as a substitute for jet fuel or diesel, among other uses. -- Wayzata-based agribusiness giant Cargill is giving the University of Minnesota $2.5 million to study a pair of crops that could become transportation fuels of the future.

On Monday, the U of M said it will use the funds to research two novel oilseed crops known as winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress. Oil from these two plants could be used to develop “low-carbon transportation fuels” and provide new revenue streams for farmers, U of M officials said in a press release issued Monday.

The university said that the two crops’ oil could be used as a “drop-in replacement” for jet fuel and diesel. It could be used as food or animal feed, too.

Cargill’s donation is specifically going to the U’s “Forever Green Initiative,” a program designed to identify and grow new forms of food, feed, and biomaterials. Don Wyse, a professor in the agronomy and plant genetics department, co-founded the initiative in 2012; it earned a nod from the New York Times a decade later.

The Forever Green Initiative is now studying a portfolio of more than 15 perennial and winter-annual crops. The larger aim is to get farmers to cover their soil with living plants on a year-round basis, a strategy referred to as “continuous living cover.” Proponents say it could help reduce soil erosion and nitrogen loss from farmland.

Cargill’s donation will help support research over a five-year basis. The U of M plans to share results publicly. READ MORE

Excerpt from University of Minnesota: $2.5 million will support five years of research by the University’s Forever Green Initiative --

Plant breeder Kayla Altendorf assesses a plant of pennycress, a novel winter oilseed cover crop.

Cargill has awarded $2.5 million to the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota to support research into two novel oilseed crops—winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress—that can produce seed-based oil for low-carbon transportation fuels while also protecting soil, improving water quality, and providing new revenue streams for farmers.

“Winter camelina and pennycress could be truly transformative for farmers, the environment, rural communities, and the economy of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest,” said Mitch Hunter, associate director of the Forever Green Initiative, a research platform in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. “We are extremely excited to have this support from Cargill, which will greatly advance our research and help make these crops a reality for farmers.”

A research plot of pennycress, a novel winter oilseed cover crop, is harvested with a combine.

Winter camelina and pennycress could be a major climate solution for hard-to-electrify parts of the transportation sector because their seed oil can be refined into drop-in replacements for jet fuel and diesel. Grown in the off-season and with few inputs, the crops produce seed-based oil with a small greenhouse gas footprint.

Fuel made from these crops could reduce emissions by more than 60 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel or diesel. Demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is increasing rapidly—spurred by state and federal tax credits and the newly launched Minnesota SAF Hub—and the shipping industry is looking for low-carbon replacements for conventional diesel fuel. The oil can also be used for food, biopolymers, and other industrial applications, and the high-protein meal can be used for animal feed.

Forever Green is an international leader in the development of winter camelina and pennycress. The Initiative is advancing a portfolio of over 15 new perennial and winter-annual crops. By integrating these novel crops with common Midwest crops like corn, soybean, and wheat, farmers can keep their soil covered with living crop plants year-round—a strategy known as “continuous living cover” agriculture.

A recent report called Putting Down Roots projects that, with widespread adoption in Minnesota, continuous living cover agriculture could reduce nitrogen loss from farmland by 23 percent and soil erosion by 35 percent by 2050. Nitrate is a major contaminant of ground and surface water. The report, released by Forever Green and its partners Friends of the Mississippi River and EcoTone Analytics, also finds that on-farm profit could increase 20 percent with a shift to continuous living cover. Winter camelina and pennycress were leading crops in this report, projected to be planted on over 5 million acres by 2050.

“Cargill is committed to building a more sustainable food and agriculture system, and part of our approach is helping make regenerative agriculture practices commonplace,” said Lyle DePauw, crop innovation director for Cargill. “Winter camelina and domesticated pennycress have the potential to address key sustainability challenges in agricultural supply chains, including water quality concerns and demand for low-carbon fuel feedstocks. Cargill is committed to creating opportunities for farmers to be profitable and sustainable.”

Both the University of Minnesota and Cargill are members of the MBOLD coalition, which works to accelerate solutions to climate and sustainability challenges in food and agriculture. An MBOLD-funded pilot project helped demonstrate that winter camelina is a scalable sustainability solution and ongoing collaboration with Forever Green will illuminate key economic, environmental, and agronomic factors for taking camelina production to scale.

The five-year grant will accelerate research into crop biology and management. All research results will be shared publicly.