Executive Director's Column
SETTING PRIORITIES

By TERESA SPAETH
AURI Executive Director

Imagine always having enough time and enough money. Wouldn’t life be easy? No worries, no concerns.

Welcome back to the real world. Every day we have to choose how we will use our time, where we will spend our money, what e-mails we’ll answer first. Decisions boil down to what is most important to us.

Organizations like AURI operate this way daily. Within the limits of staff time and finances, we target efforts that most positively impact rural Minnesota. Projects that can add the highest value to the largest volume of commodities, that can create jobs and improve the rural economy, are a higher priority than those with minimal impact.

At AURI, we set priorities every year. Our partners help, as we agree on mutual areas of interest and emerging opportunities.

Producer-owned renewable energy has risen to the top of our priority list. The ethanol and biodiesel
industries fit our mission. They use large amounts of commodities, create jobs and spur economic
activity, plus they generate new sources of energy that benefits rural America.

Ethanol and biodiesel both produce valuable coproducts such as distiller’s dried grains, syrup and glycerin. It is a priority for us, and the producer-owned enterprises that generate these coproducts, to find new uses that produce revenue or save money on energy.

But ethanol and biodiesel are only the beginning. Biomass energy, cellulosic conversion, gasification and other emerging energy developments hold potential for rural Minnesota as well.
 

That is true, too, of biobased products. Whether a new building material made from crop residue, polymers from corn starch or nutraceuticals from plant extracts, developing value-added biobased products holds tremendous potential.

As many crop farmers tell us, a healthy livestock industry is also vital to our rural economy. Pork, dairy, poultry and beef are important markets for Minnesota-grown commodities. That’s why value-added animal product development is another AURI priority. Maintaining a vibrant animal agriculture and meat-processing industry has far-reaching implications for our state’s economic well-being.

AURI was created for rural Minnesota’s longterm economic benefit. The state’s support for AURI has been a worthwhile investment. Since 2004, AURI has helped develop 25 large-scale renewable energy
projects that impact more than 7,500 producers statewide and will exceed $200 million in capitalization. Also, AURI helped foster the development of more than 325 projects in ag processing, renewable energy and coproduct development.

AURI sets priorities by recognizing emerging trends and our agricultural partners’ needs. Value-added innovation will keep Minnesota firmly entrenched as a leader. ■