Press coverage of LIBERTY Day cellulosic ethanol harvest demonstration

The opportunity to view pre-commercial biomass harvesting equipment that will collect feedstock for cellulosic ethanol proved as irresistible to members of the press as it did to farmers in the Emmetsburg area. There was quite a lot of news coverage as you can see from our news page. Here are a few of the online highlights:

Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag news posted seven audio clips of speeches and interviews with speakers, farmers, POET team members and agricultural equipment manufacturers on their site.

KTIV-TV out of Sioux City, Iowa posted several news clips to their web site: Farmers sign up to deliver cobs to Emmetsburg, IA project, Cellulosic ethanol plant promises jobs, freedom from foreign oil, and Gen. Wesley Clark: 'We need E15 right now.'

Chuck Zimmerman posted tons of content to his blogs Domestic Fuel and AgWired as well as photos and videos that are worth checking out. Here's one of POET CEO Jeff Broin's speech:

Finally, there was an extremely complementary opinion piece about the event from the nearby Estherville News. Among other things, it said: Corn-based ethanol is in fact the best thing to come down the road for Iowa farmers, Iowa's economy and the environment for a very long time. Except for cellulosic ethanol, of course. We agree.

Biomass harvesting equipment slide show

During the Project LIBERTY Field Day, a slide show of the biomass harvesting equipment played on four big screens under the tent. There were a total of 16 agricultural equipment manufacturers at the event and you can view many of them on that slide show:

Biomass harvesting equipment slide show

View more presentations from POET.

The equipment manufacturers and partners represented were AGCO, CASE IH, CLAAS, Demco, Fantini, Iowa State University, Idaho National Lab, John Deere, Ken's Truck & Trailer, Milstak, Redekop, Stinger, SmithCo, Unverferth, Vermeer and Wildcat. For photos of the equipment in action, be sure to check out our photo gallery.

Media from Project LIBERTY Field Day

I took lots of pictures and video at the Project LIBERTY Field Day today in Emmetsburg, Iowa. There is a photo album on Flickr and videos on POET TV. Here are the videos:

You can listen to an interview with POET CEO Jeff Broin over on Domestic Fuel.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day

I am asked about corn cobs nearly every day. Can farmers harvest corn cobs efficiently and profitably? Will there be various cob harvest equipment options for various farm operations? Will there be incentives for the early cob farmers?

Come to POET Project LIBERTY Field Day to see and hear that the answer to all three of these questions is yes. The event will be at POET Biorefining - Emmetsburg on November 3rd. Leading agriculture equipment manufacturers will demonstrate new commercial and pre-commercial equipment for harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol. The equipment from last year's field day is pictured here. You can view videos on POET TV.

The main events will be two live demonstrations of equipment, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In between there will be an informational session for area farmers on the opportunities afforded them by harvesting biomass for cellulosic ethanol. POET team members will describe incentives for early adopters. Agricultural equipment company representatives will be on hand. And if that isn't enough, there will also be a free lunch!

Agenda:

9:30      Welcome

10:00    Equipment Demonstration

11:30    Speaking Program

12:00    Lunch

1:00      Equipment Demonstration

3:30      Adjourn

POET Project LIBERTY, right in Emmetsburg, Iowa, is on track to become one of the world's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. Project LIBERTY Field Day brings together the main ingredients: farmers, agriculture equipment companies, and POET--working together for U.S. energy independence.

Biomass harvesting equipment on display this Thursday

As previously mentioned, POET is hosting the Project LIBERTY Field Day this Thursday at POET Biorefining - Emmetsburg. During the event, area farmers will get a first-hand look at the progress agricultural equipment manufacturers have made on biomass harvesting equipment. A complete schedule of the day's events can be found on our web site.

Meanwhile, Farm Journal posted an event preview with a slideshow of the fields and the equipment that you can view here:

If you're interested in biomass harvesting and cellulosic ethanol, come out to Emmetsburg on Thursday. We'll even feed you lunch.