Farmers hear about ‘new energy economy’

Crops grown for automobile fuel are at the center of a new energy economy that holds promise for creating wealth in rural America, a top U.S. Department of Agriculture official told hundreds of people attending a clean-energy conference in downtown Spokane Monday.

The country has reached “a tipping point,” said Tom Dorr, USDA’s undersecretary for rural development.

For farmers, the challenge of the next decade will be how to retain some of the new wealth that will be created as wind, solar, and most importantly, ethanol and biodiesel, move from alternative to mainstream.

He likened the emergence of a “new energy economy” to radical changes in telecommunications, mechanized agriculture and scientific advances in medicine.

The conference is a two-day extravaganza of alternative fuel discussions and presentations that includes industry and government players throughout the Pacific Northwest. It continues today at the Red Lion Inn at the Park.

Dorr, who likens his agency to an investment bank for farm communities, said government is interested in helping to establish the infrastructure needed to turn alternative fuels from great idea to economic reality. But it may ultimately be up to private investors to make it happen.

It poses a deep challenge for small towns and farmers worried about losing this opportunity to reinvigorate sagging economies. Traditional agriculture has been cursed by low crop prices just as prices for diesel fuel and nitrogen-based fertilizers are at record highs

Dorr spoke of small-town investment pools made up of money from farmers, businesspeople, teachers and others. These funds could then loan money to alternative fuel projects and reap the potential rewards, he said.

Keeping alternative fuel business in small towns could reverse the troubling social trend of young people leaving for cities to pursue a livelihood.

Farmers have notoriously poor cash flow, but they do have significant capital investments in land. Unlocking this money could spur rural economic development before Wall Street or venture capital money is tapped.