THERE ARE A few funny looking combines making their way across the fields of Pennsylvania and they’re on their way to Ontario.

These modified combines are not only harvesting corn, but also harvesting corn cobs. That’s a lot of work for one machine to handle in one pass over the field. But according to Larry Shrawder, President of Harvest Technologies Inc. based in Pennsylvania with locations in Ontario, the technology is available.

With Shrawder’s technology, all separation is done on the combine. “We’ve harvested over 135,000 tonnes of corn cobs off of our combines and we currently handle over 40,000 tonnes of seed and combine cobs per year,” he says.

These corn cobs are sold to a variety of niche markets for products such as abrasives, absorbents and animal bedding. Although there is currently excess  supply for those markets , there is a new market that is gearing up right in Ontario.

A LOCAL MARKET FOR COBS
Greenfield Ethanol, Canada’s largest ethanol company, is taking a close look at using corn cobs to make ethanol. Ethanol made from second-generation feedstocks, non-food items, has been gaining support not only in the industry, but in government and the general population. The environmental benefits of using crop residue and other non-food products like wood chips are the driving force behind research and investment in the technology.

“We’ve reviewed and tested several feedstocks and settled in on corn cobs based on the work performed in our lab and pilot plant. We believe we can produce fuel ethanol from corn cobs on a commercially viable basis.,” says Tim Leitch, Director of Corporate Finance
at Greenfield.

The decision to focus on corn cobs was established through research at Greenfield’s Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Technology, and Research and Development in Chatham, Ontario. The lab has been working on the project for the past two years and a pilot plant has been operating using corn cobs for the past year.

“We believe we have the science well in hand on corn cobs. There is still issues to overcome with commercialization and scaling up, but on a scientific basis we’ve got things in order,” says Leitch.

The next step, says Leitch, is to build a demonstration plant. This plant will be larger in size than the current pilot plant, but not yet at full commercialization capacity.

PROVEN TECHNOLOGY
Although the cobs used in Greenfield’s pilot plant are currently being supplied by Ontario seed corn operations, along with out of province sources, there is a potential  future for Ontario grain corn producers. 

“Our markets haven’t been robust enough to have a lot of people harvesting cobs. At this point we don’t want to set up more farmers without new markets,” explains Shrawder. But as Greenfield begins to scale up operation on corn cob ethanol, the opportunities for Ontario producers are going to grow.

Shrawder plans to bring a combine demonstration to Ontario in fall 2010. “A demonstration will give us three things: the ability to refine storage techniques, provide cobs for the demonstration plant and provide farmers with a chance to see combines in action.”

The equipment can be added to an existing combine for as little as $10,000, but there is a small learning curve involved with the technology. In order to collect the cobs, a wagon must be pulled along behind the combine. “It takes  a little bit to overcome the thought of pulling a wagon,” says Shrawder. “But  producers who have started harvesting cobs find that it’s really quite simple.” 

Producers also need to become more militant about monitoring the harvest. It’s important to keep an eye out for lost cobs. If cobs are still on the ground, adjustments to the equipment should be made.

Shrawder explains that, “once the farmers understand how to adjust the machinery and set it up, we run at 95 percent efficiency and, depending on the yield, we can harvest about a half tonne of corn cobs per acre.”

CHALLENGES AHEAD
The science is behind them and the technology has been proven, but there are still challenges ahead for Greenfield and Harvest Technologies Inc.

“We will be working very closely with the farming community. There is training, education, and infrastructure to create. It’s a whole new sector. There is going to be hiccups but the best thing that we can do is be aware of the challenges and we’re going to be working with the farming community quite closely to overcome them,” says Leitch from Greenfield.

The biggest challenge both Leitch and Shrawder foresee is the creation of infrastructure to store the cobs. “The infrastructure is a really big thing. We know how to harvest, transport and store corn cobs. But while there is a tremendous existing infrastructure for corn, we still need to build that for cobs,” says Shrawder.

The good news, however, is that a lot of the development work has been done. Shrawder and his associates have designed specialized new equipment for transportation and handling the cobs, as they don’t exactly flow out of hopper bottom trailers and gravity wagons. “This isn’t something we have to discover, this is something we have been doing it for 25 years. Now we need  to refine the system  and scale up.”

Storage, however, is another issue. Economical ways to store corn cobs have been developed. But Greenfield is still working on developing a satellite storage infrastructure which would be necessary for their operations.

Regardless of the challenges ahead, both Shrawder and Leitch feel optimistic about the future of ethanol made from corn cobs.

“It’s a case where everyone is going to grow together. I think farmers are going to play a very large role in alternative fuels,” says Leitch.