More Field Days & Oil Yields

Since the Adelaide Show, I have been out and about.
I talked to 5 groups of school students at a Sustainable Living presentation run by the Mt Pleasant Natural Resource Centre, talked at the Coonalpyn Ag Bureau and attended Field Days in the (SA) Riverland and at Hart (near Clare).

At both Hart and the Riverland I ran the Oilpress with results indicating the need for good Canola Seed.

The Oil on the left was provided by Grantley Telfer from Ungarra and shows good oil quality with minimal sediment. About 60 Litres from about 150 Kg of grain.
The ABB (at Ruddall) tested the grain at 44.7% Oil, 7.9% Moisture and 19% Protein. The protein level of the meal would be about 28%.

The Oil on the right is oil that had been sitting in a bin for some time and I suspect that some of the oil has evapourated away. The volume is wel down, but the amount of sediment (as a proportion of the oil) is still relatively low. (37.2% Oil, 9.4% Moisture and 26.8% Protein). The Meal from this would be very good as a Feed supplement due to it high protein level.

The Oil on the left was crushed from some undersized grain that I used at the Hart Field Day.
The Oil yield was disappointing and the amount of sediment makes the oil of poor quality.
The Oil Expeller had a hard time crushing the small seeds. The meal was of a good quality and appeared to be quite dry but the oil yield was very disappointing.

My testing continues. If you have 5 to 15 tonnes of Canola you would like to press into meal for feed-lotting I am interested in doing some intensive pressing.

I am heading OS next week to attend a Biodiesel course in Iowa (USA) but will be back in early November.

Royal Show and upcoming events

We are at the Royal Adelaide Show this week, again guests of SAFF (this time it is SA Farmers Fuel).
SAFF have the only independent (of Oil Companies) retail structure in Australia and are strongly promoting Biofuels in the market place. They are working with us in promoting our presses and providing a market for the oil that the presses produce.
The presses provide an opportunity to add value to your farm outputs and working with SAFF gives you a ready market for the oil.
Additionally, if SAFF is providing your fuel, we have a potential for backloading of the Vegetable oil to the Biodiesel plant, closing the loop and reducing the cost (economic & environmental) of transport.
Other things that are happening.

1. Plans are being made to present Biodiesel Workshops around SA (and possibly Vic & NSW) - contact me if you are interested in having one in your part of the world.
2. In the coming weeks I will be talking at Mt Pleasant & Coonalpyn and demonstrating the press at the Riverland & Hart field days - come and have a look and ask lots of questions.
3. I am developing supply lines for sock filters and other Biodiesel processing stuff.
4. In October I am attending the 5 day Biodiesel course at the University of Iowa and meeting with Biodiesel entusiasts and suppliers in North America & Europe.

Any questions, comments or feedback is welcome, either here or by email.