In the 1980s the farm economy collapsed in America, and farmers were faced with huge payments and no income.
Dallas Tonsager was a dairy farmer in South Dakota and remembers how farmers set their minds on building industries that use the products they grew.
“Lots of people will argue over ethanol, but it worked, local farmers invested in it,” Tonsager said. “It created jobs, economic activity, a market for their product — everybody benefited.”
Today Tonsager is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s under secretary for rural development. He has spent a few days in Maine this week, meeting with entrepreneurs in the wood pellet sector, business and academic leaders leading the way in offshore wind power development and, on Friday, taking part in a round-table discussion with business leaders and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud.
Members of the round-table include Lawrence M. Barrett, president of Eastern Maine Community College, Claudia Raessler, owner of SuriPaco LLC, an alpaca farm in North Yarmouth that recently received $30,000 from the agency, and Durward Humphrey, CEO of the Katahdin Valley Health Center.
Tonsager spoke on Friday with the Bangor Daily News about the challenges and opportunities facing Maine’s economy.
“It’s kind of a regional thing — what is the strength in a region, when it comes to agriculture, commodities, forestry?” Tonsager said. “It seems to me the synergy pretty well exists here for the creation of a wood pellet industry. You’ve got relatively high oil prices, lots of people using oil in their homes for fuels, so if you can provide an alternative energy source relatively economically and do it from a sustainable, local product that seems to make a pretty good opportunity for a business plan.”
Tonsager said he also met with the University of Maine’s Prof. Habib Dagher and Cianbro Chairman and CEO Peter Vigue, and learned about Maine’s efforts to launch a deep-water wind turbine project.
His agency is very interested in green projects, Tonsager noted, funding wind, solar, geothermal and even methane digester proposals around the country. He said he saw opportunities to help with both wood pellet and offshore wind in Maine, Tonsager said.
“We couldn’t do billions on a major wind project, but there are pieces we maybe could do,” he said. “We’re pretty opportunistic; we look for what people are trying to do and see if we can be helpful. We count on states and local people to be strategic.”
The USDA Rural Development has already invested $19.5 million in energy-related projects in Maine since fiscal year 2004 in wind, solar, energy-efficiency, biomass and an anaerobic digester. It has assisted all four of Maine’s wood pellet producers, investing $1.4 million.
In the last fiscal year, the USDA’s Rural Development division invested a total of $376.6 million Maine’s rural communities, including $320.3 million in housing loans and guarantees, $18.4 to businesses and $27.4 million to communities, funding projects including water and-or wastewater upgrades in Wilton, Milford and Berwick.
The agency has done extensive work in rural electrical projects as well as broadband projects. Tonsager noted that President Barack Obama in his state of the union speech had talked about building an “economy that lasts.” That is reflected in the work the USDA is doing, Tonsager said.
Tonsager added he was a believer in “making stuff, manufacturing.”
“Real wealth comes from the earth,” said Tonsager.
“We’re pretty opportunistic; we look for what people are trying to do and see if we can be helpful. We count on states and local people to be strategic.”
As we can when it is in the hands of a real leader, being “open for business” should be
being open to new business.
Yes, ethanol…destroying our food source for fuel with the help of massive tax payer dollars. Ethanol is dying out and now, the next folly being shoved down our throats is wind. No thanks, keep your change.
The USDA needs to focus on developing safe agricultural practices. This Rural Development aspect does not belong in this department.
At a time when the Federal Govt. has let some of the outlandish wind subsidies lapse, because they have realized that that industry is about as economically viable as Solyndra was, this clown wants to come in and spend a few hundred million on wind power in this state! Is there an endless supplies of dim-witted agency heads in DC? Unbelieveable.
FYI. The USDA funded the $9.5 million loan for the three-turbine wind project on Vinalhaven. If you look at that project’s recent performance the ratepayers on Fox Islands aren’t doing so well.
Fox Islands Wind electrical rates:
http://fiwn.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/fiec-rate-graph1.jpg
“Lots of people will argue over ethanol, but it worked, local farmers invested in it,” Tonsager said. “It created jobs, economic activity, a market for their product — everybody benefited.”
Everybody benefited? Everybody? Maybe, not quite everybody. Farmers, refiners and anyone who was on the “program” dole, maybe. But, that would be about it. Ethanol has been a failure in just about every other way. That gives me a little concern about Mr. Tonsager’s perspective. Is he advocating the use of federal money to create artificial industries to benefit a discrete group? Ethanol is a poster child for government waste. It has survived only because of the heroic lobbying efforts of the midwestern states that are on the ethanol entitlement rolls.
If Mr. Tonsager is promoting the creation of more ethanol type “businesses” – and I use that word reluctantly – then I’m not that interested in what he has to sell.
Ethanol only makes sense economically is made from wood and agricultural waste and that feed stock is also burned to raise steam for the ethanol plants. In addition, it’s a less than ideal fuel additive. It does raise octane but reduces fuel mileage, is debatable on emissions reduction, soaks up water, may damage fuels ystems etc.
It rots any rubber parts in carbs and fuel lines and will absorb enough water to destroy engines., in particular snowsled and chainsaw 2 cycle engines.
Why not just help the local farmers and bring our farming back to the U.S.A. As it is, I am waiting for the pictures to come out showing trees and plants growing towards or away from wind turbines. Only the future will tell. Bring farming back to the local level so when there’s no oil to run the ships from Brazil, ect., we still will have food to eat. As it is, we are waiting for the soup kitchens and government subsidy cheese. It might be wise to save the money and make sure there’s enough to issue food rations. Wind is a poor investment and the government seems determined to back it in anyway it can. Maybe the future is bringing the loss of subsidies and they need another way to filter money to the wind industry? Our government needs cleaned-up, cleaned out and new priorities set. What happened to “FOR THE PEOPLE”, not the pockets of those who have enough?