Farm Hack - Oilseed Cost / Profit Calculator

Link to Farm Hack posting of a University of Vermont Spreadsheet - The Oilseed Crop Production Cost and Profit Calculator is intended to allow farmers to assess potential costs and profits associated with oilseed production and conversion to oil, meal and biodiesel. Download

Oilseed Pressing Workshop

Save the date!

Join OSU's Agroecosystem Management Program and Organic Valley on September 24th for an oilseed pressing workshop at Mellinger Farm, including a demonstration of Organic Valley's mobile seed press.

We will cold-press seed from the canola, sunflower, flax and camelina grown in research plots at Mellinger farm, and will share our experiences working with these crops.

Join us September 24 at Mellinger Farm

Join Organic Valley and OSU's Agroecosystem Management Program on September 24th as we press seeds from canola, sunflower, flax and camelina using Organic Valley's Mobile Seed Press!

Workshop Results

Thanks to everyone who came out to Mellinger Farm on Tuesday for the oil-seed pressing workshop! We pressed over 200 lbs of oil and ended up with over 1,000 lbs of high-quality meal. We were also able to pool our experience with that of farmers, researchers and others who have grown oil-seeds or are looking to add them to their own crop rotations. Check out some photos here!

Sunflower Harvest

On October 29 and 30 we harvested the sunflower plots at Mellinger Farm - the last of the oilseed crops. We ended up with almost 1,400 pounds per acre.

Check out some photos here!

Sunflower Pressing

This weekend we pressed all of our sunflower seed, with help from Dave Tegtmeier and Wade Mahoney at Sunsational Oil. We ended up with over 50 gallons of oil and more than 700 lbs of meal. Check out some pictures here!

Demand for organic protein supplements for poultry

Check out this NPR peice on organic egg production. The reporter describes the lack of domestic organic protein supplements as a major limiting factor in organic egg production - a product experiencing a massive rise in demand. Though the piece focuses on soybeans, oilseed meal from flax, camelina and canola could all be used as protein sources for poultry. Camelina meal especially has been singled for it's ability to grow well without synthetic inputs and for its potential as an organic livestock supplement.

You can listen to the full story here:

HELPING ENTREPRENEURS WORK TOGETHER TO GROW BUSINESSES ROOTED IN AGRICULTURE

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