Seed Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 8)

where it is fed into the threshing cylinder taken from a modified rotary combine. Cleaning and grading is done with an assortment of air screens, rotary sizers and gravity separators. Depending on the species, some seed may recycle through the same machine several times to reach the desired level of purity. The smallest seed lots, often less than 10 pounds, are processed with laboratory cleaning equipment. “The amount of clean-out from a large lot is more than what is in an entire lot of some seeds,” Doudlah says. “For those small lots, you want to keep every seed. If some spill to the floor, we pick them up and save them.” After cleaning, how seed is handled depends on its seed lot size. Smaller seed lots are placed in bulk storage containers and kept in the refrigerated portion of the Madison warehouse. These small lot, high-value seeds are mainly sold as components in custom Seed screenings are fed into a hammermill prior to being pelleted for fuel to heat Agrecol’s Evansville, WI seed conditioning facility. (Joe Funk photos) seed mixtures. Large volume grass seeds are packaged in woven poly bags for shipment directly to customers. Grass seeds can also be mixed to customer specifications. “We have acres of switchgrass straw out in the field waiting to be chopped like forage and brought in to our pelleting mill,” Walker says. “We don’t have to convert switchgrass to ethanol in order to use it for fuel.” Biofuel Space Heating The 30,000 sq. ft. Evansville production facility is heated by hot water pipes buried in the floor. A large boiler outside the building uses pelleted fuel as a heat source. A significant portion of the fuel is the discarded straw and plant material from the seed cleaning process. Switchgrass is also used for fuel. A repurposed feed hammermill and pelleting machine are used to convert stems, stalks and screening into one-quarter inch pellets. The pellets are then fed into the boiler by a stoker not unlike those used with residential coal-fired furnaces. Doudlah estimates that it will take less than three years for savings from reduced natural gas use to recoup the cost of the pelleting equipment and boiler. “One of Agrecol’s values is to encourage sustainable, ecologically friendly business practices,” Doudlah says. “By using our waste materials for fuel, we reduce dependence on fossil fuels, eliminate a waste product that would otherwise be an expense to dispose and save money in the process.” What, then, if the waste material is all gone before warm weather returns? Developing a Market To support the market for its native seed products, Agrecol provides professional landscape design services plus native and eco-products and services used to establish native vegetation. Products including Envirolock™ vegetated retaining walls, vegetated ditch checks for stormwater control and native certified weed-free mulch/ straw all support the use of native seeds. A demonstration area at the Evansville facility include a series of small, vegetated rainwater runoff catchment areas. These areas hold water from the downspouts until it can soak into the ground instead of becoming surface runoff. A vegetated pond at the Madison location serves a similar purpose. “By demonstrating agricultural ecological solutions, we also demonstrate some of our core values and commitment to building a more sustainable environment.” Mark Doudlah says. “We have to show that we can walk the walk with our products.” Joe W. Funk, editor Vegetated rainwater catchment areas. 8 First Quarter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q1 2008

Seed Today - Q1 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature: Agrecol® Corporation Reed Barker, Ph.D. Cal/West Seeds Inc. Annual GM Use Report Bt Resistance Reported Camelina Tony Harper Gayle Jacklin According to ASTA Krauter Structures AOSCA AOSA/SCST GM and Greenhouse Gas Seed Associations Ad Index

Seed Today - Q1 2008

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