Some New England residents are turning to soybeans for heat. It is called bio-heat, and growers say it has become a solid market.
“It’s caught on well, very, very popular. People love it, and there’s a whole industry developed around it now, about what modifications and so forth are done to the heating plants of furnaces, if you will, the boilers, and so it’s pretty neat, and it’s become a nice demand center for our soybean oil. It burns cleaner. It has fewer carbon deposits. It has a lot easier maintenance. It has natural lubricity, which of course, when we took sulfur out of our petroleum-based products, we lost a lot of lubricity, so there’s a lot of built-in advantages and that’s what they like about it,” said Andy Bensend, District One Director, Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board.
Bensend says it has been a gradual process. First, homeowners turned to fuels like bio-diesel over traditional heating oil, and from there, bio-heat took off.
The Senate failed to pass a continuing resolution that had been approved by the House the previous week. They could take it up again today, but it would take seven democrats to end the stalemate.
September 30, 2025 11:26 AM
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Livestock and government payments provide a boost, but crop receipts and rising expenses keep pressure on margins. Strong financial planning remains key in a volatile environment.
September 30, 2025 10:45 AM
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The USDA is working with 14 different states, including Georgia, to develop and implement block grants to address the unique disaster recovery needs for each state.
September 30, 2025 10:25 AM
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The total value of the U.S. potato crop was $4.60 billion in 2024, representing an 8% decrease from the previous year.
September 29, 2025 06:00 PM
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Crop-specific shifts and strong prices highlight the variability of this year’s fruit and tree nut harvest, according to USDA data.
September 29, 2025 05:11 PM
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The USDA noted that peanut edible utilization season-to-date is down 3% on the year, despite overall stocks increasing.
September 29, 2025 04:55 PM
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