Press Releases

7/11/02 - Biodesel? - Yes: But From Hybrid Hazelnuts

8/13/03 - The Future Of The World Is Nuts!

9/19/02 - Hybrid Hazelnuts - New Crop Taking Giant Steps

Release 1

Badgersett Research Corporation: RR 1, Box 141, Canton, MN USA 55922-9740

Press Release - 7/11/02 - For Immediate Release

Biodiesel?- Yes: But From Hybrid Hazelnuts

Better Profits AND Better Environment

keywords: Agribusiness, Business, Biotechnology, Environment,Biodiversity

Badgersett Research Corporation, a company in Canton, Minnesota, is announcing the culmination of 25 years of research and development: ALL of the technology and systems components necessary to produce biodiesel fuel - profitably- from Badgersett's hybrid hazelnut bushes is now in our hands. The company is patenting the first two clones from its extensive breeding work. These bush hazels are fully machine compatible. From planting to harvest, the new crop system can be entirely mechanized; and easily adopted by farmers presently growing soybeans and corn. In addition to being more profitable than soybeans, the crop is entirely "sustainable". No pesticides are currently used in production, and no fertilizer escapes the huge permanent root systems of the hazels- which means there is NO soil erosion, and NO contamination of water. And the hazels are more productive: "We can not only produce oil for biodiesel more economically on hazels than with soybeans, we can actually produce more oil per acre; a LOT more." , says Philip Rutter, President/CEO of Badgersett. "And right now; this ISN'T one of those "more research is needed" statements!"

Using new tissue culture technology developed in partnership with Dr. Paul Read and Dr. Mehmet Nuri Nas of the University of Nebraska, these clonal hazel bushes can be very cheaply produced, by the millions every year, right now. Already field tested for 2 years in Minnesota, they are capable of growing to 6 feet tall in the first year, and can bear a crop of nuts starting in the second year. Bred without recombinant DNA techniques, there are no regulatory barriers to development.

The other critical technology just now feasible is mechanized harvest: Badgersett Research has also been partnering with BEI, Inc., of South Haven, Michigan; one of the leading developers and producers of blueberry picking equipment. The two hazel clones being patented were selected in part for their compatibility with existing machines; both clones are expected to be harvested economically with unmodified blueberry harvest equipment. More than just a fully developed new crop system, this IS the sustainable, perennial agricultural environmentalists and others have been hoping for; only it's not a pipe dream for 100 years in the future, we literally have ALL the pieces in our hands today. And we don't even need (or want) government subsidies to get it going. We already have real farmers planting acres of the new hybrids, and an economically straight line out ahead of us. The bushes are full of birds, predatory insects; even frogs- they have a place to live all year, and since no pesticides are used, they're healthy and stay that way- and eat bugs 24 hours a day. The biodiversity supported and integrated with the crop system is virtually the same as a natural brushland ecosystem.

Yields of basic tonnage per acre can already equal soybean yields, and it is clear that further yield increases are possible. Soybeans are 20% oil; hazelnuts are 60% oil; and the oil is 70% monounsaturated isomers- boththe healthiest for human consumption and simultaneously easier to manufacture into diesel fuel than soy oil is.

MORE

Diesel fuel of course is NOT the only market available to these hazelnuts; all the existing hazel markets are open: chocolate, coffee, etc; as well as all the processing and livestock feed products that until now hazels have been too expensive and too scarce for. Anything that can be done with a soybean, can be done with a hazelnut; plus more- Taxol was recently found in hazels...

Badgersett is well aware there will be skeptics- and is prepared for them. Everyone is invited to come and see for themselves; the research fields are open, "warts and all", for the public to examine. "Have we 'totally done' it? No." says Rutter; "Full scale plantings are just beginning; but the 2 years of small initial field trials have been 100% satisfactory. Are we going to 'DO' it? Yes. Just you watch us. It has already been happening much faster than anyone expected; growth of the crop promises to be downright explosive, now that the clones and machines are here."

A tour of Badgersett Farm #1 in Canton, MN, and the hazel crop is scheduled for Saturday, July 20; under the auspices of the Association For Temperate Agroforestry (AFTA). Local arrangements are being made through the University of Minnesota's Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management (CINRAM).

The Company's Annual Field Day is Sat. August17; all day; details on

Badgersett web page.

PHOTOS are available for press use.

BEI, Inc. ; Butch Greiffendorf, President; (616) 637-8541

For information about the tour, the CINRAM web page is

http://www.cnr.umn.edu/FR/CINRAM/home/

email: cinram@umn.edu; phone Dean Current (612) 624-4299 to register

for tour by phone

Press is also welcome to simply come to the farm and observe the AFTA

tour on July 20

Release 2

Press Release - 8/13/02 - For Immediate Release

The Future Of The World Is Nuts!

And You Can See It For Yourself...

keywords: Upcoming Event; Agribusiness, Business, Biotechnology, Environment, Biodiversity

Badgersett Research Corporation, a company in Canton, Minnesota, is holding its Annual Field Day this coming Saturday, August 17th (rain day August 18th). On display this year are hybrid hazel clones, and a bumper crop of both hybrid hazelnuts and hybrid chestnuts. "The crop this year is so impressive you can stand in front of many of these bushes and just SEE more food being produced than you could EVER get from soybeans growing on the same ground. The productivity is spectacular!" says Philip Rutter, CEO. "Soybeans can't even come close, for either basic food production, or bio-diesel."

Under development for more than 20 years, the hybrid bush hazels are now rapidly gaining growers and acreage in the upper Midwest: a newly formed growers association is holding its second meeting at 6PM August 16 in the Harmony Community Hall; shared processing and pooled marketing projects are on the agenda.

More than just a fully developed new crop system, this IS the sustainable, perennial agricultural environmentalists and others have been hoping for; only it's not a pipe dream for 100 years in the future, we literally have ALL the pieces in our hands today. And we don't even need (or want) government subsidies to get it going. We already have real farmers planting acres of the new hybrids, and an economically straight line out ahead of us. The bushes are full of birds, predatory insects; even frogs- they have a place to live all year, and since no pesticides are used, they're healthy and stay that way- and eat bugs 24 hours a day. The biodiversity supported and integrated with the crop system is virtually the same as a natural brushland ecosystem.

Yields of basic tonnage per acre can already equal soybean yields, and it is clear that further yield increases are possible. Soybeans are only 20% oil; hazelnuts are 60% oil; and the oil is 70% monounsaturated isomers- both the healthiest for human consumption and simultaneously easier to manufacture into diesel fuel than soy oil is.

Diesel fuel of course is NOT the only market available to these hazelnuts; all the existing hazel markets are open: chocolate, coffee, etc; as well as all the processing and livestock feed products that until now hazels have been too expensive and too scarce for. Anything that can be done with a soybean, can be done with a hazelnut; plus more- Taxol was recently found in hazels...

Badgersett is well aware there will be skeptics- and is prepared for them. Everyone is invited to come and see for themselves; the research fields are open, "warts and all", for the public to examine. "Have we 'totally done' it? No." says Rutter; "Full scale plantings are just beginning; but the 2 years of small initial field trials have been 100% satisfactory. Are we going to 'DO' it? Yes. Just you watch us."

PHOTOS are available for press use.

Press Release - 9/19/02 - For Immediate Release

Hybrid Hazelnuts - New Crop Taking Giant Steps

·First Mechanized Picking Demonstration- Tuesday Sept. 24

· Heartland Hazel Growers Association Formed- AHHA!

keywords: Upcoming Event; Agribusiness, Business, Biotechnology, Environment, Biodiversity

An historic event is shaping up for this Tuesday Sept. 24, in Nebraska City, Nebraska. For the first time ever, hazelnuts are going to be harvested by machine, straight off the bush.

Doesn't sound too exciting? Maybe it will when you learn how many people are working to make these hybrid hazel bushes literally replace soybeans as a mainstream agricultural crop. "It's all happening far faster than I ever imagined it could." says Philip A. Rutter, President/CEO of Badgersett Research Corporation (BRC), Canton, Minnesota, the company responsible for breeding the new hybrids. "In the last year we've seen the success of the new cloning technology, formation of a growers association; now we've got machine harvest; an absolutely critical next step. And the bandwagon is starting to pick up a lot of serious passengers."

The machine harvest demonstration/trial is being sponsored by BEI, Inc., South Haven, Michigan, the maker of harvesting machines widely used to pick berries, and The National Arbor Day Foundation, which owns the 9 acres of Badgersett Research Corporation. Interested growers and members of the new American Heartland Hazelnut Association (AHHA!) will be driving from at least 5 states to attend the demonstration. "The ability to pick the nuts right off the bush, with a machine that basically drives just like a combine, both means cleaner, more efficient harvest, and makes this crop accessible to regular farmers- which has been the goal right along." says Mr. Rutter. Tissue culture cloning, allowing uniform fields and harvest, has been successfully developed at the University of Nebraska, in the laboratories of Dr. Paul Read, with funding from BRC. Research continues there, and at the University of Minnesota, where Dr. Jeff Gillman's lab is investigating hybrid hazel nutritional requirements, with funding from the University's Experiment in Rural Cooperation. "The list goes on. RC&D's in four states are helping." says Mr. Rutter. "This new crop is well on its way to becoming a 'movement'. Farmers are sick to death of losing their shirts on corn and beans. And environmentally, the time is way past ripe. Imagine a crop, MORE productive than soybeans, where the fields are never plowed after establishment- and the land is covered 365 days a year. No soil erosion. None. A place for birds and animals to live. And you can actually expect to make an honest living! What a concept!"

Press and the public is invited to attend the machine harvest debut/demonstration/trial: Arbor Day Farm, Nebraska City, Nebraska; Tuesday, Sept. 24. Special press attention at 10AM to Noon- but the machine will likely be working all day, and observers are welcome at any time.

PHOTOS are available

for press use; contact BRC.