Flower power: Farmer growing his own fuel

Jackson County farmer Jeff Pittman has found a unique way to use his idle peanut and cotton acreage during their off-season, and his latest crop is drawing a crowd.
Carloads of families have arrived to stop and look at his 100-acre field of golden-centered sunflowers in the Lovedale community, some taking pictures of themselves against the bright background.
Pittman likes the way the flowers look, too, but a pretty landscape isn’t his main goal. He’s looking to find an alternative fuel for his aging tractors. He plans to crush the flowers and extract their oil in a few more weeks. The oil will be converted into B100 – a 100 percent biofuel that he can blend with conventional diesel. What’s more, he’ll be able to use what’s left in the crushing as cattle feed.
Pittman embarked on the project several weeks ago, when gas prices were nearing $4.
“Our initial goal was to support our irrigation methods,” he explained. “We burn 25,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel through irrigation, and we use 50,000 gallons for everything combined. The $4 fuel was getting us depressed. These sunflower varieties we’re using has high oil content, 47 percent, and we’re going to try to supply as much of our fuel as we can through this to give us some relief from some of these high energy prices. In 2008, we’re going to average $3.90 a gallon. Seven years ago, we averaged $1 a gallon.”
Pittman said he’s going to use the biofuel in his older tractors, where warranty issues are not a factor. He said he expects this to be a learning process, and has no plans to involve other producers, at least for now.
“This is just an experiment, something interesting to talk about at this point, it makes good conversation. I wouldn’t dare get anybody else involved right now. It’s just something we’re trying on our own. We don’t know where this is taking us, but if it’s successful and we get to the point where we know it’s workable, then I’d be glad to share what I know with anyone. We’re not there yet, by a long shot. We don’t have all this figured out.”
Despite his cautious approach, Pittman said he experiences a rush of excitement sometimes when he thinks about the project.
“There is some excitement, I have to say, because this is a factor that could keep us in the ag business. What’s got me excited about this to a degree is that it could keep us on the farm. I’m 38 years old, and I’ve never received a check from another source of income. I’m fourth generation, and I think we’re to the point it’s desperate times calling for desperate measures. I never have pursued any idea like this before, but if we can learn how to grow a portion of our fuel…I’m excited about that. I think about what could happen if the fuel supply gets tighter and tighter and is eventually cut off. There you are with a couple million invested in a crop and no way to run your equipment to harvest it. You’re in a desperate situation then, and I think this is the responsible thing to do.”
With gas prices beginning to drop now, Pittman said that’s all the better.
“The lower it goes, the more we can possibly blend into our alternative if we need to,” he said.
And sunflowers won’t be the end of his inventive approaches: Pittman said he expects to experiment with canola this fall, planting that crop in hopes of harvesting fuel, too.