Ancient seeds, modern hope

Local farmers experiment with camelina crops

"Make sure you have a roll of duct tape."

That's the advice Duane Johnson offered when Carter Fritz was getting ready to combine his camelina crop last summer. Johnson, superintendent of Montana State University's Northwestern Ag Research Center in Creston, knew harvesting the plant's tiny seeds would be no easy task.

It took a couple of tries, but Fritz, a longtime Flathead farmer, managed to combine his 10 acres of camelina using a 3/64 slotted screen. He never needed the duct tape.

Camelina, also called gold of pleasure, is the latest oilseed plant to reach Montana. It's by no means new, however.

The plant was an important crop in Europe during the Iron and Bronze ages, and the ancient Romans used its seeds to make lamp oil.

Other plants and fuel sources pushed camelina aside, and it wasn't until the latter half of the 20th century that people once again began seriously considering its worth.

Johnson has called camelina "Montana's soybean" because of its usefulness in producing biofuel. It is also high in omega 3s, making it valuable in producing edible oil and feed meal for fish, livestock and poultry.

Farmer John Sheldon said he believes camelina will be a huge boon for Montana agriculture.

"I'm one of the few people who think agriculture has a good future in Western Montana," he said. "Farmers are discouraged, but that's not the way it should be."

Sheldon, who has grown other oilseed crops on his Flathead farm, will plant camelina this spring. Fritz is also going to grow it again, this year increasing his crop to 45 acres.

He first heard about camelina at a Farmer's Union meeting. Fritz got 30 pounds of seed from Johnson's experiment station, and last year seeded 10 acres at 3 pounds per acre.

"We took off over 1,100 seeds per acre last year, and we had no idea what we were doing," Fritz said. "Well, it's too new to know."

This year, according to his son, Chris, they plan to irrigate sooner and fertilize, instead of holding their breath and hoping for the best.

They expect to see an even greater yield this year.

"I think we can easily get 1,800 to 2,000 pounds per acre in western Montana," Carter Fritz said.

He predicts Eastern Montana will also do well.

"I can easily see them getting 1,000 pounds per acre," he said.

Weather is, of course, a concern. Last summer, Fritz didn't know what to expect from one month to the next after a record wet June began the summer.

Still, even considering weather, camelina should thrive.

"It mimics wild weeds," Johnson explained - and weeds don't seem to mind weather fluctuations.

Nearly 20,000 acres across Montana will be seeded with camelina this year, most in Eastern Montana. However, between Flathead, Lake and Missoula counties, 2,000 to 3,000 acres will be planted, Johnson said.

"It's not going to make any farmers rich," he said, "but what it's going to do is be a nice rotation crop."

Camelina is a good rotation with wheat, Chris Fritz said. Farmers can spray for grasses and weeds when the camelina is growing, saving them a step when it's time for wheat.

Since they'll harvest camelina in July, he added, it won't interfere with anything they're doing now. Fritz and his family can grow barley and alfalfa as they've always done.

Paul Miller, president of Sustainable Systems, a Missoula-based company dedicated to renewable fuels and biodiesel products, also is excited about camelina as a rotation crop.

"The more variety and crop rotation," he said, "the healthier and the more productive the land is going to be."

Sustainable System owns a crushing plant in Culbertson. In the past, the plant has crushed safflower, canola and other oilseed crops, but Miller says camelina will be crushed there this year.

The Culbertson plant also has a refinery, but it currently only refines for edible oils, Johnson said. As biofuels continue to gain interest and momentum, though, the plant may add or become a biodiesel refinery.

"The petroleum industry basically has driven the biodiesel industry," Johnson said. "We're a fast-track market."

In 2004, he said, the United States produced 25 million gallons of biodiesel. That number doubled in 2005.

In 2006, the United States is predicted to produce 200 million gallons of biodiesel, he said. That number is expected to double again in 2007.

Through camelina, Montana can easily tap into that market. A fuel distributor from California has already told Johnson he'll take 25 million gallons of biodiesel if the state can produce it.

"At this point, we have no problem selling biodiesel," he said. "The real beauty of this is if we sell to the West Coast."

Pacific states, most significantly California, have strict sulfur emission regulations. However, sulfur acts as a lubricant in diesel engines, so something has to take its place.

This is why some states require a biodiesel blend. Biodiesel produces significantly fewer sulfur emissions and still lubricates diesel engines.

Distributors in these states are willing to pay $3 a gallon for soybean biodiesel, Johnson said. He expects to get a similar price for camelina.

Fritz hopes camelina will help wean the country from its dependence on foreign oil.

"If we can grow it, well, let's support the American farmer and do it ourselves rather than buying it from everyone else," he said.

Biodiesel likely will be the primary end product of Montana-grown camelina, Johnson said. It isn't the only market open to the crop, though.

Two-thirds of every pound of seed will be turned into protein and used for animal feed, Johnson said. The Creston research station is already working with a U.S. Department of Agriculture fish lab in Bozeman, where meal made from camelina is fed to fish.

The omega 3s in camelina produce nutritionally superior fish, Johnson said.

"And hopefully that takes some pressure off the marine fishing industries, the salmon and tuna industries," he said.

The Northwestern Ag Research Center also is working with the University of Georgia. Montana camelina meal and seed are shipped south to feed poultry for egg production.

Data from this is still preliminary, Johnson said, but so far they've seen very high levels of omega 3 in those eggs.

The center has another partnership near Bozeman, where camelina meal is used for goat feed. The cheese and milk produced, Johnson said, have been high in omega 3s.

A similar experiment is currently taking place in Havre. Forty head of cattle are being fed on camelina; another 40 are fed on soybeans. In early June, these cattle will be slaughtered and the quality of their meat measured.

In addition to these indirect nutritional impacts on people, camelina can be processed into edible oil. In Europe, dietary camelina oil can sell for as much as $11 a gallon, Johnson said.

Fritz and his son are excited about still another aspect of camelina: Once the plant has been combined, its sturdy straw can be used to make a pressed board product that is denser and stronger than plywood, Johnson said.

"That's value creation there," Chris Fritz said. "It's the first crop to come into Montana where we can use every bit of it."

His father is excited to see what camelina does for the state.

"We've shipped everything in this state ever since the first settlers came in and shot all the buffalo and shipped the hides out," he said. "I hope a lot of this will stay in Montana, and we'll find a use right here in Montana."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com