Portland will subsidize

farmers for biofuels Portland started paying agricultural subsidies Wednesday, when council members voted 5-0 to promote Oregon biofuels by setting a price floor for canola seed grown by farmers east of the Cascades.

The plan, crafted by Commissioner Randy Leonard, authorizes the city to spend up to $11 million to buy biodiesel made from Oregon-grown canola seed. That seed will be processed into oil, much of it by Madison Farms near Echo. The oil will be processed into biodiesel by Salem-based SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel -- whose owners include music star Willie Nelson. Star Oil in Portland will distribute the biodiesel. [Read Full Article]

Thursday July 26, 2007

By Andy Dworkin, Oregonian