Gateway NAMA had a tremendous turnout of nearly 60 people at their chapter meeting on November 15. And no wonder — renewable fuels is certainly a hot topic for the ag industry today. Attendees had the opportunity to hear an updates from David Sparks, regional manager for CoBank; John Kleiboeker, director of field services for the American Soybean Association; and Chris Standlee, executive vice president of Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation.

Mr. Sparks provided an overview of the risks and considerations involved in financing a biofuels production facilty. Mr Kleiboeker focused on the role of biodiesel and expansion efforts taking place here in Missouri, and Mr. Standlee discussed the growth of ethanol production and how Abengoa’s research & development efforts were helping to expand this.

Special thanks to our sponsors for the meeting — the National Biodiesel Board and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. If you would like additional information on this topic or on any of the speakers, please contact us at [email protected].

The next Gateway luncheon meeting is set for January 10, 2006.