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Michigan soybean grower experiments with biodiesel as prices climb

A young farmer says this season he’s experimenting with using biodiesel in his equipment as fuel prices surge.

Lenawee County’s Zach Schaffner tells Brownfield his fuel tanks were getting prepped for the transition on Monday.

“It’s very important that you go into it with no microbes in your tank, because that can be a setback if you’re using biodiesel,” he explains. “But once we get it cleaned, we’re going to get our first shipment in. We’re going to do a B5 blend, which would be five percent biodiesel, 95%  percent regular diesel.”

Initial testing this winter found Schaffner’s storage tank had some contamination at the bottom of the tank, which had the potential to cause performance issues in machinery.

“I think it’s going to be a lot easier on the engines,” he says. “I’m interested to see kind of what that changes as far as the cost of maintenance on our end, and if it can run as a cleaner fuel, if it helps our engines run a little more efficiently.”

Local diesel prices this week are up nearly 70 percent or more since the end of February, as reported by Michigan Farm Bureau.

Schaffner says the slight premium for biodiesel seems insignificant at this point.

“As a farmer, it’s worth it to me to pay a little bit extra, knowing that we’re using an American-grown product that also benefits the value of the soybean industry,” he shares.

Schaffner grows soybeans, corn, alfalfa, and wheat in Hudson with three generations of his family.

He will be working with the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition to analyze and document the process throughout this growing season.