The Natchez Democrat

FERRIDAY, La. &045; Local and regional farmers looking to get more bang for the buck are plowing ahead with research into bio-fuels and other value-added products.

Agricultural Commodities Economic Development, Inc. will host a meeting on March 2 to discuss the opportunities and obstacles of using the products to enhance local economies and bring together interested groups to form a farming network.

The keynote speaker will be Mark Zappi, a tenured professor of chemical engineering at Mississippi State University and director of the Department of Energy’s Mississippi University Research Consortium for the Utilization of Biomass.

ACED organizer Cecil Brooking, of Ferriday, said he was excited arranging for Zappi to come.

&uot;He’s a pretty good catch,&uot; Brooking said. &uot;We are lucky, lucky, lucky. He’s done most of the research and is most knowledgeable on this processing.&uot;

ACED took the first steps to studying alternatives for the soybean last fall, requesting and receiving a $17,350 U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the feasibility of locating a plant in the area to break soybeans down into meal, oil and other products.

The state legislature through Rep. Bryant Hammett is matching the grant by more than $17,000.

The corporation consists of 12 producers in the Delta region of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Kurt Guidry, an associate professor of agriculture economics and agriculture business at LSU, is conducting the feasibility study and will be present at next week’s meeting. His research is ongoing and is scheduled to last a year, Brooking said.

Next Wednesday’s meeting will include a discussion period for questions and answers and will draw farmers form as far away as Arkansas, Brooking said.

&uot;I hope we get a diverse crowd,&uot; he said. &uot;We are going to know a lot more after the program. We will get a good side and a bad side on this and will have much better facts to make logical decisions.&uot;

The meeting will start at 10 a.m. at the Natchez campus of Alcorn State University. Lunch will be served, but those wishing to attend should RSVP by Friday at noon. Those interested should contact Brooking or his wife Liz at 318-757-3904.