Tifton Campus: News & Events
Text Version of Radio Clips
Recorded October 18, 2005 at the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo
Speakers:
- Chris Beckham, Radio Announcer
- David C. Bridges, Former Assistant Dean of the Tifton Campus
- K.C. Das, UGA Associate Professor
Beckham:
We are here live at the University of Georgia's building here at the Sunbelt Expo. It is a big red and black building. I urge you to come on by if you are around Sunbelt this week. There is so much going on just inside this building. We are joined now by Dr. David Bridges, he is the Assistant Dean at the UGA Tifton Campus and we are so glad that they are in Tifton. Things are growing at the Tifton Campus and a lot of that is evident today. Dr. Bridges, so much of what is going on at the UGA building, a lot of it is being worked on in Tifton and we know how important research is.
Bridges:
We are focusing this year on poultry. The University of Georgia has a big poultry effort, research and extension. Of course, poultry is a broad business as Georgia’s biggest agriculture enterprise. So, we are happy to be here this year focusing on that important crop from the Center of Agribusiness and Economic Development, Engineering, Outreach, and the Agriculture Innovation Center from Tifton.
Beckham:
David, I'll tell you what, that is something that I did not know. We’ll be talking to Mike Lacy a little bit earlier. About 45% of farm gate value in Georgia for the poultry/egg industry. Second is rural crops, comes to about 15%. That goes to show you how big that industry is here in Georgia. Again, the University of Georgia Tifton Campus has so much going on in Tifton. It is growing every year and you have more majors, more students now. It is just an exciting time to be a part of it. I know going past the booth there are a lot of young people here today and they are saying, "Hey, what's going on here?" and I know that your folks are glad to tell them about it.
Bridges:
Absolutely, Chris. We are really happy to launch undergrad programs from the University of Georgia in Tifton in the Fall of 2003. We are now up to 108 students, 60 undergraduates and 48 graduate students. The program continues to grow every year. It has been a real addition to the campus, it provides our faculty the opportunity to teach, get into the classroom and it provides students another way to get a degree from the University of Georgia. Some of those students are placed bond or can't afford to quit their day job but they can stay in south Georgia and earn a degree from the University of Georgia. So we are pleased to be able to offer that to our students.
Beckham:
Get that diploma, hang it on your wall and never have to leave Tift County. There have been a lot of people out here visiting the University of Georgia building and we will be talking to folks over the next three hours about some of the research going on here, extension, education again the Tifton Campus is a huge part of that here in Georgia and we are glad they are. Come on down. We are here live from the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo broadcasting from the University of Georgia Building and there is so much going on. There are great crowds. We hope that everyone comes out over the next three days and if you do make sure you stop by the University of Georgia building. Of course, we have the Tifton Campus and many of the booths here explaining what’s going on with agriculture in the state and in the southeast and really around the world and right now Phillip I’m joined by K.C. Das, the Associate Professor and Coordinator of the University of Georgia Iron Refinery and Carbon Recycling Programs in Athens and we are talking about bio-diesel development at the University of Georgia and Bio-ethanol research and the bio-refinery and carbon recycling programs. This is obviously something that people are interested in now as they pass those pass pumps and luckily not $3 a gallon any more but certainly something as fuel prices have gone up. People are looking for alternatives and, K.C., I know that this is something that the University of Georgia has made advancements in over the past couple of years. Tell us a little about the bio-refinery program in Athens.
Das:
We are a large group of University faculty and outreach people. Primarily what we are doing are looking at various Georgia biomass that are available and how to use that in the most optimal manner and enhance the word bio-refinery. Which basically means we take the bio-mass and we want to refine it quite similar to the way that oil is refined to produce a variety of products like transportation fuels, lubricants and heating and power fuels, etc. What we are doing the two key programs we are featuring here at Sunbelt, the bio-diesel program which is the process of taking vegetable oil and converting it into a diesel that can be used in diesel truck or bus and the research that we are doing in this area is basically coming up with a novel feedstock. How we go beyond poultry fat and peanut oil and look at non-traditional crops that can be grown in Georgia to produce diesel. We also have a program on ethanol that, ethanol is a replacement for gasoline in gasoline engines. Traditionally in the U.S. corn is the substrate that we use to make ethanol and the mid-west is the leader in this area. What we are doing in Georgia we are trying to find crops that are well grown in this area for example, sweet potatoes is something we are doing research in. And if you come to Sunbelt Expo we have a lot of demonstrations, various products like ethanol and blends of ethanol in gasoline on display. We have products from the bio-refinery like carbon based products that are on display and various biomass that are available in Georgia and how to convert them. There are several experts here who at the University of Georgia engineering booth that will be here to answer questions and basically give you additional information.
Beckham:
And obviously this is something that farmers in the agricultural field are interested in to because first of all they can use their crops for something else like you mentioned sweet potatoes. 98% of ethanol in the U.S. is produced by corn and also sweet potatoes and sorghum are some other alternative fuel costs but also with the price of diesel. I know about $3.20 is what I passed this morning. The bio-diesel is so much, there is proven technology behind it. And its so much easier for the farmer to use. Do you think, obviously the research continues do you think we’ll get to a point where this is a common thing and if so how far along will that be?
Das:
That is difficult thing to answer but right now it’s a realistic technology its competing against gasoline and gasoline crude oil at $63 a barrel. Its very attractive to go to bio-diesel and ethanol. From what I read if it drops to even $40 a barrel we are still an attractive option to generate transportation fuel from agriculture and forestry so we continue to work on the technology we want to improve that. We make it widely available and make it large scale economically viable technology. This is what the University of Georgia is doing and we will continue doing that.
Beckham:
We appreciate your time this morning again stop by the booth and see K.C. and his staff will be here for the next three days. You can come by and find out more about the bio-diesel and bio-refinery program at the University of Georgia. This is world class research being done at our state’s campuses and we should be proud at that. And this will defiantly something you will here more about in the coming years. That $40 a barrel sounds pretty food I wish we could get to that point. But I tell you right now I know these farmers are ultimately interested in this. Come on by the red and black building you cant miss it. It is in the middle of the Agriculture Expo. Again, this is research going on here that a lot of folks are interested in.