Oilseed Fact Sheet: The Regional Picture

Introduc on

farmers may grow canola or other

oilseedcropsasanalterna vecrop,or
asacovercrop.Theharvestedseedis
stored in bins and moved on to the
next step of the process, the oilseed
press.

In a regional food system, the development of oilseed growth and processing forms a cyclical system. Every
feature of the system can be u lized
in mul ple ways, as will be discussed
in this factsheet. This system is one A er the cleaning process the oilseed
example of what can be done using press presses the seed, crea ng two
products.Thefirstoftheseproductsis
oilseedinaregionalse ng.
the meal. Meal is the remains of the
TheSeed
seeda ertheoilisextracted.Mealis
extruded from the p of the expeller
The star ng point of the regional
press, and collected, to be used as
oilseed system is the fields. Regional

feedforca leandotheranimals.The
mealishighinproteinandothernutrients,andmakesanexcellentaddi on
tothefeedra on.
Theextractedoiliscollectedandcontained,whereitbranchesoutintotwo
uses.

TheUsesofExtractedOil
Oilextractedfromthecanolaseedhas
twoop onsforcon nueduse.Some
oftheoilisfurtherrefinedandbo led
foruseascookingoil.Therestispre-

Oilseed Fact Sheet: The Regional Picture

pared for use as engine fuel. A num- the region a more sustainable system

ber of machines and equipment can

berunonstraightvegetableoil(SVO),
through the use of modified diesel
engines. The tractors that harvestthe
canola seed from the fields are designedthisway.Thiscreatesacyclein
which the product feeds into the systemthatcreatedtheproduct.

withinthestate.

Summary

From the plan ng of the oilseed and

harves ng, to the various uses of the
oil extracted from the seed, to the
PennStateCollegeofAgriculturalSciencesresearchand
final return of the oil to the origin of extensionprogramsarefundedinpartbyPennsylvania
thesystem,aregionsoilseedprocess coun es,theCommonwealthofPennsylvania,andthe
forms
a cycle. Everything that goes U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture.
The oil which is extracted as food oil
isusedinthefryersintheprepara on into the system is returned, from
of food. The system does not stop at providing cooking oil to restaurants Wheretradenamesappear,nodiscrimina onisintendthispoint.Theoilwhichhasbeenused andmealtoca leandotherlivestock, ed,andnoendorsementbyPennStateCoopera ve
Extensionisimplied.
for frying and cooking is collected as to the refining of used oil into bio
wasteoil.Thewasteoilisrefinedina diesel.
biodiesel reactor, which converts the
oil into biodiesel, a form of bio-fuel
which can beusedinmanydieselen- Factsheetpreparedby:
gineswithoutmodifica on.
Russell Schaufler, Farm Opera ons,
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.
DouglasSchaufler,Dept.ofAgricultural and Biological Engineering, Penn
StateCollegeofAgriculturalSciences.

ThisprojectissupportedbytheNortheastSustainableAgricultureResearch
An example of a tractor run o of a combina on of diesel and straight vegetable andEduca on(SARE)program.SARE
isaprogramoftheNa onalIns tute
oil.
ofFoodandAgriculture,U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture
Comple ngtheCycle
As with the oil originally collected for
fuel, the refined biodiesel is used in
local equipment. As a whole, this decreasestheamountofnon-petroleum
fuelsneededfromtheoutside,making

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