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Northeast Region Profile: Roger Rainville
Growing Canola for Biodiesel
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Roger Rainville hopes to
achieve energy independence on his farm. One of his fuel feedstocks
is home-grown canola.
– Photo by Bill DeLillo |
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Just steps from the Canadian border, Vermont dairy farmer Roger
Rainville is one of many farmers looking to determine his own energy
future. At his aptly named Borderview Farm, a 300-acre mix of row
crops, pasture and dairy replacement heifers, Rainville is gearing
up to become self-sufficient in energy, using biodiesel converted
from his own canola crop.
Rainville, who has farmed outside of the small town of Alburgh
for 25 years, has long been interested in alternative energy. When
Vermont Extension Specialist Heather Darby invited him to participate
in a SARE-funded farmer research project evaluating canola varieties
for biodiesel production, he was thrilled at the prospect.
“We had been dabbling for awhile so we were pleased to jump
in,” Rainville said. “It’s been frustrating to
see big companies get millions and tell us we couldn’t [produce
our own energy], when, in fact, farmers can do this themselves.”
Rainville was particularly excited about the multiple prospects
from canola. “We could see growing our own canola oilseed,
producing our own fuel and still having the byproduct for cattle
feed,” he said. Given that there are approximately 10,000
cows within a 20-mile radius of his operation, and that canola meal
can fetch up to $200 per ton, Rainville quickly grasped how the
economics would work in his favor.
In 2005, the first year of the trial, Darby and Rainville planted
more than 21 varieties of canola, selecting the top three for the
following year. “We wanted varieties that were high yielders,
high oil [producers], and [would be] available in years to come,”
said Darby. The farmers also selected varieties that enabled them
to save seed.
Rainville found it easy to grow the canola and fit it into his
existing corn-alfalfa rotation, but harvesting the seed proved more
of a challenge. In the gusty, cool plains of the Midwest, where
canola is traditionally grown, the crop is mowed to shelter it from
blustery winds. In Vermont, however, correct timing of the swathing
proved difficult. Rainville found that waiting too late caused a
high proportion of seed pods to shatter. The following year, an
unusually wet August caused many of the seeds to rot. By the third
year of the trials, however, Rainville realized that in Vermont,
unlike the windy Dakotas, the canola could ripen and dry without
swathing. In 2007, Rainville harvested the canola directly out of
the field, achieving yields of 1.5 tons per acre, leaving him very
optimistic about future production.
Because he anticipates excellent returns from the meal by-product,
Rainville is not worried about time and labor costs for biodiesel
processing. He recently purchased a press to begin converting the
canola seed to oil. Next, he plans to set up a cooperative on his
farm with other area oilseed farmers, who will use his facility
to convert their own canola to biodiesel. Rainville predicts he
can grow and process enough canola to produce 2,000 gallons per
year of biodiesel, enough to free his farm from fossil fuels. “Years
ago, farmers used ten percent of their land to fuel the farm —
the feed went to the horses,” said Rainville. “This
is the same idea,” he added, referring to the canola crop
being used to “feed” the tractors.
“The whole concept of being [energy] self-sufficient on the
farm is really pretty exciting,” Rainville said.
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