Biofuels Plant to Benefit Indiana Farmers and Livestock

Soybean farmers will benefit from the plant because they can sell their soybeans locally and receive a better price due to lower transportation costs, explained Chris Novak, executive director of the Indiana Soybean Board (ISB). "This announcement is extremely good news for all Indiana farmers," he said. "Indiana is getting a soybean-processing facility and a biodiesel-production facility. To have both planned for construction is unprecedented in the U.S."

Upon completion, the Louis Dreyfus facility will be one of the world's first biodiesel production plants to be fully integrated with a soybean processing plant, states the release. About 260,000 metric tons of soybean oil from the plant will be used each year for biodiesel production. In addition, 1 million tons of protein-rich soybean meal produced each year will be used by the livestock and poultry industry. The biodiesel plant will produce up to 250,000 gallons of biodiesel per day, or more than 80 million gallons per year.

"This commitment from the Louis Dreyfus Company, with the support of Governor Daniels and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, shows that it's a good investment," said Novak, "and that Indiana is serious about becoming the 'Texas of biofuels' for the U.S."

Although Indiana soybean farmers have been funding biodiesel promotion, research and education programs for more than ten years through the soybean checkoff program, Novak said one of the challenges in promoting biodiesel use has been the inability to guarantee a readily available supply to end-users.