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Feedstock: Sunflowers, canola, mustard

Fuel: Biodiesel

Energy Output: Power (for farm machinery)

Services: Oilseed and Grain Grower, Oil milling, Fuel Processing, Feed Supply

Owner: John Williamson

Location: Shaftsbury, Vermont; Bennington County

On the forefront of oilseed crop growing in a northeastern climate, State Line Biofuels is Vermont’s first on-farm facility making biodiesel made from oilseed crops grown on-site and from neighboring farms.

The Williamson family has owned State Line Farm in southwest Vermont alongside the border of New York since 1936. For many years, State Line was run as a traditional dairy farm, but falling milk prices caused them to sell the herd and look towards diversifying the farm’s operations.

John and his family currently produce maple syrup, honey, sorghum syrup and hay for sale in local markets. Since 2004, State Line Farm has also experimented with sunflower, canola, mustard, and flax varieties in an effort to fuel their farm with biodiesel.

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Feedstock: Sunflowers, soybeans and canola

Fuel: Biodiesel

Co-products: High-protein sunflower meal as feed ingredient

Energy Output: Power (for farm machinery) and heat (for farmhouse)

Services: Oilseed Grower, Oil milling, Feed Supply

Owner: Larry Scott and Peggy Hewes

Location: Newbury, Vermont

Larry Scott and Peggy Hewes operate Ekolott Farm—a diversified farm raising emus, Herefords, and hogs, and growing feed and energy crops such as shell corn, sunflowers, and soybeans on 200 acres of Connecticut River valley land. Ekolott produces biodiesel to fuel a portion of their tractor work, all of their own heat and an increasing amount of the feed ingredients for their animals, including grains and sunflower seed meal.

Ekolott is a three-generation dairy farm that moved to Vermont from Massachusetts in 1980. The farm consistently achieved Vermont milk quality awards with their 220 registered Holsteins, until the cows were sold in 2004.

Diversification of the farm had already begun in 1994 when the Scott family began raising emus (they are currently the largest and one of the oldest emu farms in Vermont, under the name Riverside Emus). With barns and pasture freed up after the dairy herd was sold, the Scott-Hewes took on raising Herefords and hogs and have been developing a local customer base for their beef, pork, and emu through on-farm and farmers’ market sales.

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Feedstock: Sunflowers, canola, switchgrass

Fuel: Biodiesel and grass pellets

Energy Output: Power (for farm machinery) and heat

Services: Oilseed and Grain Grower, Oil milling, Biomass Pelletizing, Fuel Processing, Feed Supply

Owner: Roger and Claire Rainville

Location: Alburgh, Vermont; Grand Isle County

Having sold his dairy herd several years ago and thinking he was heading into semi-retirement, Roger Rainville began experimenting with farm-scale biodiesel production on his family farm in northern Vermont, which literally hugs the Canadian border.

The University of Vermont (UVM) now leases a number of acres from the Rainvilles as Borderview Farm has become one of the best-known applied research facilities in Vermont.  Roger, along with Dr. Heather Darby, a UVM Extension agronomist, and her team have helped transform the former dairy farm, conducting leading research in the Northeast on oilseed crops, perennial grasses, hops, small grains and other crops suitable for small-scale and value-added farming.

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