USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program Informational Webinar Jan. 20
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), an incentive program for biomass feedstock production, will provide financial assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and non-industrial private forestland who wish to establish, produce and deliver biomass feedstocks, according to Fred Iutzi of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University
(Media-Newswire.com) - The United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) Biomass Crop Assistance Program ( BCAP ), an incentive program for biomass feedstock production, will provide financial assistance to owners and operators of agricultural and non-industrial private forestland who wish to establish, produce and deliver biomass feedstocks, according to Fred Iutzi of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs ( IIRA ) at Western Illinois University. The application period for this program is now open, and a free webinar for producers and other interested parties is scheduled for multiple sites throughout the state from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.
The webinar -- organized by the IIRA, the Illinois Biomass Working Group ( IBWG ) and University of Illinois Extension -- will feature Don King, chief program specialist for the USDA Farm Service Agency in Illinois, and Tim Slating from the University of Illinois' Energy Biosciences Institute. Iutzi noted that King and Slating will discuss the program and the application process. An overall strategy for organizing applications to target the critical project areas of BCAP will also be discussed.
"As a follow-up to the webinar, people interested in being part of a BCAP project area application will be invited to follow-up meetings held in the vicinity of current or potential biomass buyers," Iutzi explained. "At those meetings, IBWG members will facilitate conversations through which potential biomass buyers and sellers can explore forming a BCAP project area group. These meetings will begin taking place in various parts of the state in early February, with specific details announced by January 20."
Iutzi, the program manager for the Illinois Value-Added Sustainable Development Center ( a unit of the IIRA ) and the IBWG facilitator, added that BCAP may represent a major opportunity for Illinois farmers and rural businesses.
"We want to give farmers and other potential applicants the information they need to decide whether the program is a good fit for them," he said.
Ted Funk, assistant director of the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research ( CABER ) at the University of Illinois, added, "Building biomass supply chains in Illinois will require multiple financial and project development tools. For some producers, BCAP will be part of that toolbox."
According to Iutzi, the IBWG is comprised of farmers, businesses, universities and public agencies that meet to share information and collaborate to advance biomass energy in Illinois. The group helps link together farmers and businesses of many types to form complete biomass supply chains and to promote collaborative efforts among the private sector, public researchers and regulators.
Interested parties may participate in the Thursday, Jan. 20 webinar at the following Illinois locations:
Carbondale — Southern Illinois University Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Rd.; Charleston — Eastern Illinois University, Martin Luther King, Jr., University Union, Room 1895, 1720 South 7th St.; Decatur — University of Illinois Extension, Macon County Office, 3351 N. President Howard Brown Blvd.; Elizabeth — Jo-Carroll Energy, 793 U.S. Rte 20 West; Jacksonville — University of Illinois Extension, Morgan County Office, 104 N. Westgate Ave.; Pontiac — Livingston County Farm Bureau, 901 W. Howard St.; and Quincy — University of Illinois Extension, Adams County Office, 330 S. 36th St. Register for the webinar online at http://go.illinois.edu/biomass.
For more information, contact Iutzi at F-Iutzi@wiu.edu or Erin Orwig at ER-Orwig@wiu.edu or toll free at the IIRA at ( 800 ) 526-994; or Natalie Bosecker, at the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research at the University of Illinois, at natalieb@illinois.edu or ( 217 ) 244-9273.
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