Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84JANUARY 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 35 AS AN INDUSTRY leader in the development of field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.), Arvegenix, a renewable fuel company in St. Louis, Mo., has made tremendous strides during the past few years in turning pennycress into a biofuel. A winter annual belonging to the mustard family, pennycress has been examined and researched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and numerous academics around the world. However, Arvegenix is the first entity to invest in an ambitious breeding and genomics program with a mission to domesticate the wild strains of pennycress into a viable commercial crop. Formed by Dennis Plummer, Mike Roth and Vijay Chauhan in 2013, Arvegenix’s three founders became aware of initial research on pennycress from the USDA in Peoria, Ill., and were extremely interested in the potential this plant could have for the agriculture system in the Midwest, and as a new feedstock for advanced biofuels without competing with land for food production. Cris Handel, Arvegenix’s research and sustainability director, says they quickly built a team that could tackle the multitude of tasks to make a new crop successful. She attributes the com- pany’s success to three things — team, location and attitude. “The proactive nature and commitment of the founders and the whole team that came after that made all the difference,” she says. “Having a mix of people with different backgrounds and career expectations also helped. The vast majority of the management team is retired from long and successful careers. On the other hand, young professionals — mainly coming from St. Louis Community College — have been added to the team as they are eager to learn from experienced professionals and develop new opportunities in their careers.” Secondly, Handel says that just as important as the team, Arvegenix’s St. Louis location has greatly helped, since it’s home to much of what goes on in agriculture and a number of startup companies. “The St. Louis ecosystem helped us find experts and financing. And, thirdly, but no less important, has been the attitude of the company founders, managers, employees and partners. Whenever there is a job to be done, we all help — regardless of title.” Why Pennycress? Essentially, a “weed” that many Missourians can find growing roadside, pennycress can be planted in fields between the har- vest of corn and soybeans in the fall and spring planting. “We’re not taking away land that can be used for food pro- duction, but we produce a cover crop that holds and protects the soil and — at the same time — a feedstock that can have a better than 80 percent greenhouse reduction in the forms of renewable diesel or renewable jet fuel,” says Arvegenix CEO Jerry Steiner. By fitting between crops, pennycress protects soil and water quality, while producing a crop and thus, new income. “Many farmers say they are interested in growing cover crops, but can’t pencil out the $30- to $50-per-acre costs to plant and terminate them,” says Handel. “Pennycress aims to deliver the cover crop benefits and earn money for the farmer.” Terry Isbell, a lead scientist with the USDA Bio-oils Research Unit, also in Peoria, says: “Pennycress doesn’t produce the high- est yield of seed or amount of oil per seed, and not even the best conversion for jet fuel, but it fits between a crop rotation that is well established and that you can’t displace.” However, it does have issues. “It’s not native to the United States,” he adds. “It came in as a contaminant and spread across the North America as a contaminant in wheat production.” Arvegenix alone has collected it in 23 states and nearly 300 locations. It grows in farms and road ditches, but has not become a weed problem as it is easily controlled by all broad- spectrum herbicides and does not grow or produce flowers and seeds during the hot months of the year. This St. Louis-based renewable fuel company started its pennycress breeding program in mid 2013, which has largely focused on plant yield, short maturity and grain quality for both oil and feed. Lisa Kopochinski TURNING PENNYCRESS INTO A BIOFUEL