The biodiesel facility will employ 24 people and add $1.4 million in annual payroll to local economies.

URBANDALE, Iowa - Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) members celebrate the announcement that the Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC, plant near Farley, Iowa, has started production. Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC, is a new facility that has a production capacity of 30 million gallons per year of high-quality biodiesel.

The announcement was made earlier today by Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG), a full-service biodiesel company that constructs and manages biodiesel plants.

Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC, will produce fuel from soybeans or other vegetable oils at the new plant, which will be beneficial to area soybean farmers, says Ray Gaesser, ISA president and a soybean farmer near Corning, Iowa.

“It’s exciting to see how far the biodiesel industry has come since soybean farmers began funding its early development in 1992,” says Gaesser.

Iowa is the largest soybean-producing state in the nation and grows about 500 million bushels per year. A bushel of soybeans yields about 1.4 gallons of biodiesel fuel, says Grant Kimberley, ISA director of market development.

“With production starting at Western Dubuque Biodiesel, Iowa currently has 13 biodiesel plants producing an annual capacity of more than 258 million gallons,” says Kimberley.

Developing demand for soybeans through the biodiesel industry has been a high priority for soybean farmers for many years. The Iowa Soybean Association and other state and national checkoffs have invested more than $50 million in biodiesel research and promotion.