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Business news and notes Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Valent, Monsanto add sugar beets to program
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- Valent U.S.A. Corporation and Monsanto Company have added sugar beets to the crops covered by the Volunteer Roundup Ready Corn 2 Cost-Share Allowance Roundup Awards program.
The enhanced program grants farmers up to $3.90 per acre toward Valent's Select Max Herbicide with Inside Technology to control volunteer Roundup Ready 2 in Roundup Ready sugar beets.
"In 2009, we anticipate a rotation of Roundup Ready corn and Roundup Ready sugar beets may be common for growers who plant both crops,'' said Curt Uebele, Monsanto Roundup marketing manager. "Now through this program, sugar beet farmers will be able to use Select Max to quickly control any volunteer corn breakthroughs.''
Longview port OKs lease for grain terminal
LONGVIEW, Wash. -- Port of Longview commissioners have approved an 80-year lease for a new grain terminal on the Columbia River.
Construction on the $200 million project is due to start at the end of this month.
Under the deal approved by port commissioners, EGT Development LLC will pay the port about $11,200 a month in lease fees during construction, which is expected to last about three years. The payments on the 38-acre property will jump to about $32,000 a month once the terminal starts operation in 2011.
The port also will start construction this fall on a $6 million berth on the river to serve the terminal.
EGT has hired Hopkins, Minn.-based T.E. Ibberson Co. as general contractor.
McGill, Becker Underwood ink agreement
AMES, Iowa -- McGill University of Montreal and Becker Underwood of Ames have signed a commercial licensing agreement granting Becker Underwood exclusive rights to patented nitrogen-fixing technology developed by a team of McGill researchers.
Becker Underwood is a developer, marketer and producer of bioagronomic products for agriculture.
"We're extremely pleased that McGill University selected Becker Underwood as the company to lead the development and commercialization of this exciting new technology,'' said Eda Reinoot, head of research and development for the firm. "We believe this technology will be an important tool in our efforts to develop and introduce new and modern inoculant products that deliver a greater return to the producers who use them.''
Lubricants Center produces new product
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa's National Ag-Based Lubricants Center has developed technology that continuously recycles engine oil, which overcomes the problem of oxidation stability and allows bio-based engine oil to be used in diesel engines.
"We thought rather than forcing vegetable-based oil to last in an engine 10,000 to 15,000 miles, we would change the oil before it breaks down and replace it with fresh oil,'' said UNI-NABL Center director Lou Honary. "If soybean oil or other vegetable oil can safely perform for, say, 50 hours or 2,500 miles, the computerized recycling system would ensure the oil is consumed as diesel fuel before the 50 hours of performance.''
Regulators seek rule change on wind power costs
BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota's wind development boom may force utility customers to pay higher electric bills unless rules on sharing transmission costs are changed, state regulators say.
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and Otter Tail Power Co. estimate the current rules could drive up their customers' monthly bills by 18 percent to 30 percent annually.
If the problem is not remedied, it could undermine public backing for wind power development in North Dakota, Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark said. The state has more than 700 megawatts of wind generation capacity, with more than 3,000 megawatts of projects planned.
"What I would tell wind developers is, 'You'd better solve this,"' Clark said. "If you don't ... the political support, which in North Dakota has been almost unanimous for wind, will evaporate."
Brown hired by Midwest Dairy Association
ST. PAUL -- Sarah Brown of Elk River has been selected to represent the Midwest Dairy Association's image industry relations department as the summer intern in the St. Paul office.
Brown is a recent graduate of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
Summer assignments for Brown include helping with activities for Princess Kay of the Milky Way, working with the ExploreDairy.com Web site and helping out at the Minnesota State Fair.
Firms to explore hydropower on Mississippi
LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Two companies are exploring hydropower projects for Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 7 at Dresbach, Minn.
Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse wants to construct a 7-turbine system using the dam's defunct auxiliary lock.
And Massachussetts-based Free Flow Power Corp. is looking into a $30 million 100-turbine system that would generate up to 14.5 megawatts of electricity.
Free Flow Power's application for a permit to explore the project's viability was accepted May 14 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but Gunderson's is still pending. Free Flow Power vice president Jason Hines says the company is exploring similar projects on several other Mississippi River locks and dams.
Pfizer offers virtual swine training tool
NEW YORK -- Pfizer Animal Health has a new on-line educational simulation that can be played from a standard computer called "Virtually Walking the Pens'' to help demonstrate the importance of individual pig care.
"We all know that we can improve on the training provided to contract growers and employees,'' said Eric Farrand, pig husbandry team manager for Pfizer Animal Health. "This simulation helps workers put basic animal husbandry and individual pig care concepts into action.''
National Wind Energy earns Minnesota award
MINNEAPOLIS -- National Wind Energy LLC has received the 2009 Minnesota Environmental Initiative Green Business of the Year Award.
The award recognizes National Wind's business model of partnering with communities to build utility-scale wind farms. National Wind is currently developing 12 wind projects across the Midwest and the Plain states.
The company has more than 1,000 landowner partners and more than 1,300 megawatts of locally-owned wind projects in development or operation in Minnesota alone.
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