A new partnership between a $44 billion global chemical-manufacturing conglomerate and a Bigfork-based renewable-fuels energy company aims to keep a few more Flathead Valley fields in agricultural production in coming years.

Great Plains - The Camelina Co. partnered this fall with the global INEOS Enterprises on a plan to produce 30 million gallons of biodiesel in Montana.

Those gallons will be based purely on camelina.

It's an ancient oil-seed plant that grows virtually untended once seed is broadcast on marginal land. It takes minimal water and fertilizer, is ignored by deer and insects, out-competes weeds and was tested on about 1,800 acres in the Flathead Valley last year. Throughout Western Montana, Great Plains grew about 3,000 test acres last year.

Once Great Plains' new camelina crush plant opens - an announcement is expected next week that it will go to Havre, centrally located in Montana's most productive grain region - Flathead Valley acreage could jump to 25,000 of the valley's 150,000 remaining usable agricultural acres. About 50,000 Montana acres were planted with camelina this year; in two or three years it could be a million acres.

Statewide, the company boasts that Montana has four-million acres waiting for camelina.

THE 30-MILLION-gallon production is a drop in the fuel tank when compared with the 600-billion-gallon annual biodiesel market in the United States.

But Great Plains, as Duane Johnson put it, "aren't the only kids in town." Johnson is the agronomic brains behind Great Plains - The Camelina Co.

Two other companies are gearing up for substantial biodiesel production in Montana. Sustainable Oil, a joint venture between Green Earth Fuels and Targeted Growth, plans a 100-million gallon capacity plant in Montana, where it would crush a genetically altered version of camelina. Allied Bio-Energies plans to crush canola seed in a 10-million gallon capacity plant, also in Havre.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has thrown his support behind the initiatives.

"Biofuels, made from crops such as camelina, will help America solve its energy-supply problems while bolstering agriculture," he said.

Taken together, they are helping establish Montana as a supplier for a growing alternative fuels market.

ALTHOUGH biodiesel can be manufactured from feedstock ranging from soybeans to animal fats, camelina could be the tipping point in profitability for perhaps 50 or 60 local farmers eventually. A conservative estimate puts potential profits around $190 per acre of camelina.

Compared with soybean-based biodiesel, in which 80 percent of the cost comes from soybean production, the tab for camelina production is closer to 30 or 35 percent of the cost, meaning a gallon can sell cheaper and still return a better profit margin.

Johnson has been a new-crops researcher since 1978 and most recently directed Montana State University's state Agricultural Innovation Center and the Institute for Biobased Products. Over the years he developed several crops new on the U.S. agricultural scene, including quinoa, blue corn and canola. He established research in essential-oil crops, alternative cereals and products and enhanced-value forages for Western Montana. He holds several patents, including one for internal-combustion engines using bio-based motor oils.

Now he's focused on biofuels derived from vegetable oils. His work with camelina has brought Montana to the forefront.

So far, Johnson hasn't found a reason to doubt the plant's potential.

"I've been in this new-crops business for a long time," he said, adding that the perfect crop hasn't surfaced yet.

"But what I do know is this one's not going to take a lot to grow. Other crops have a fatal flaw. I'm still waiting for the fatal flaw to show itself" in camelina, he said. "I've been working with it a long time [and still don't see it.] And that scares me."

His slow grin behind that statement belies his underlying confidence in the crop.

"This could become the soybean of the West," he said.

THE FLATHEAD'S Class 1-A soils, the best in the world according to Johnson, prompted Great Plains' decision to plant the majority of camelina's Montana test acreage since 2002 right here. Since then, a half-dozen growers have supplied camelina to Great Plains and to Chris Fritz of Kalispell, who uses it for high-protein livestock meal as well as on-farm fuel.

"We've got the most experience in the world," producing camelina, Johnson said.

Local climate is a bit wetter and cooler than camelina's traditional growing conditions. In the Flathead, it's about 120 days to a harvest of about 2,000 pounds an acre. In hotter and dryer Eastern Montana, it's about 90 to 110 days and yields 1,200 to 1,500 pounds an acre. Camelina is selling for 12.5 to 13 cents a pound now.

Cost of production for camelina is about half that of wheat when considering seed, fertilizer, trips across the field, pesticides and other inputs. Johnson said it's about $110 or $115 an acre for wheat but only $50 to $60 for camelina. Crop disease such as downy mildew and white mold can be an issue with the Flathead's roughly 15 inches of rain annually, compared with Eastern Montana's 10-12 inches, but he said there's no cost incentive to treat with fungicides.

Farmers can use the same equipment for camelina as they use for their wheat crops, swapping out the top screen for an alfalfa sieve or simply for ordinary eighth-inch hardware cloth.

"Camelina imitates a weed" in its low-maintenance growth cycle, Johnson said, "so with soil prep and seeding we treat it like a weed."

Because it's probably more cold tolerant than wheat, he figures that February will be the best time for seeding. To test that, he's conducting trials this year, planting in November, December, January if weather permits, and February.

GREAT PLAINS - The Camelina Co., was founded in 2006 to manufacture and market biodiesel produced specifically from camelina. Sam Huttenbauer is president of the Bigfork-based company, and Johnson is the vice president of

agricultural development.

INEOS Enterprises is part of INEOS, the third-largest global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia. It has its eye on the alternative energy sector and claims it will be the largest producer of biofuels in Europe, with production scheduled to be more than 350 million gallons by 2010.

Camelina sativa is a mustard native to Northern Europe, but was introduced to the U.S. several years ago. In its five years in the valley it has not presented problems as an invasive species. That's because its seeds are non-dormant, germinating as soon as they hit moisture so they can't overwinter and cause trouble next year. And the camelina plant itself is easily controlled with cultivation and herbicides.

Johnson is grateful for the political support from the governor and both of Montana's senators, who are introducing federal legislation favorable to biodiesel production.

And he's optimistic about cost implications for the future of the biodiesel industry.

"Just buy some diesel fuel some day," he said with a grin.

On the Web:

www.camelinacompany.com

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com