We're already taking 2/3rds of their production what more do they want?

The SoyMor Biodiesel plant in Glenville, Minnesota, is the most recent facility of its kind to go dark in the face of tough economic times. A notice on the company's web site cited the high cost of soybean oil as the reason for the, hopefully, temporary shut-down.

Myke Feinman is editor of the Biofuels Journal in Decatur, Illinois. He told Brownfield what happened to SoyMor Biodiesel isn't an isolated incident. "It's a nationwide problem for the biodiesel industry," Feinman said. "The feedstocks are the majority of the costs for those plants and the costs of those feedstocks have been very high because the cost of soybeans has been so high and soybean oil has also been high."

In the meantime, the National Biodiesel Board recently formed a Sustainability Task Force aimed at keeping the industry viable. And it's worth noting that soybeans and soy oil prices have both fallen from recent highs, including a limit down move for the entire soy complex on Monday.

But Feinman warned that for some biodiesel plants, relief can't come fast enough."So I just hope the biodiesel industry can weather this storm," Feinman said, "because they're struggling right now."

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