New farmer co-operative to help build Ontario bioeconomy

Guelph, ON – A group of Ontario farmers have a plan to convert crop residue into cellulosic sugar to help fuel the province’s bioeconomy. Based in Sarnia, the Cellulosic Sugar Producers Co-operative (CSPC) will work to develop a market for crop residue materials that can be converted into cellulosic sugar and support the establishment of bioprocessing facilities in Ontario.

“This grassroots initiative is an excellent way to develop new markets for crop residue materials and new business opportunities for Ontario producers,” says Dave Park, CSPC president. “And we will have member producers involved at every stage of development of this new value chain.”

Over the next two years CSPC directors will be providing critical assessments on logistics and investment models as additional field trials are conducted to support a new business case for investment in Ontario’s bioeconomy.

Cellulosic sugar is derived from crop residue and is used in the production of biofuels and bio chemicals. Ontario farmers, industry groups and farm organizations have been working to develop a health bioeconomy to expand the market for renewable resources like corn stover and wheat straw. Extracting cellulosic sugars from crop residues provides farmers with new markets without competing for land.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) know there’s a lot of interest in Ontario to create markets for renewable biomass products based on extensive market research and consultations with Ontario farmers. “It is essential to have groups such as the CSPC take local leadership to support investment attraction for this new market initiative to support future value chain investments in Ontario,” says Don McCabe, OFA president. “We’re pleased to see OFA’s ongoing work consulting and researching biomass production, harvesting and logistics is paying off.” The OFA will continue working to support the further develop of a healthy bioeconomy in Ontario.

Source: CSPC