Sunflower Oil: Non-GMO Alternative Energy for Sustainable Farming
Silver Maple Farm - Kutztown, Berks County
Friday, July 31
10:00am—3:00pm
$15 PASA Members, $25 all others. Lunch will be provided.
Samuel Yoder, VMD, is growing open pollinated sunflowers for fuel & food. On his farm, sunflower oil is used for cooking as well as directly powering a diesel tractor, while the cake, a highly nutritious non-oil material, is used for animal feed. His vision for plant-based energy crop co-ops has farmers setting aside a certain amount of their acreage to grow fuel, processing it at a central location, and creating a closed-loop mechanical farming system, following the animal-powered models of previous millennia. Come hear the details of the Sunflower Seeds as Fuel & Food project, see the array of renewable energy projects in place, and tour the farm where the Yoders grow most of their own food and raise full blood grass-fed Limousin cattle. Mena Hautau from Berks Co. Extension will join us for a pasture walk and discussion of sunflower yields per acre.
In addition to running a private veterinary practice with his wife Annemarie, Sam is co-founder of the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association (MAREA), a nonprofit, grassroots educational organization that supports citizen participation in renewable energy and sustainable living projects.
