Economics of on-farm processing of sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is being researched as an extender or substitute for diesel fuel. Sunflower seed contains ca. 40% oil. Each Btu used to produce the seed and process oil will return ca. 5.78 Btu. The price relationship per Btu of diesel to sunflower oil was 1∶4.00 in 1979. This ratio declined to 1∶1.80 in 1981. The on-farm processing cost for 4800 gal varied from $2.82 to $4.33 per gallon for the three press sizes analyzed. Operating these presses 300 days annually reduced cost per gallon from $1.74 to $2.99.