DRIVING TO BIRD ISLAND

I am familiar with the little town of Bird Island, Mn. The elementary school located there is where my three grandchildren attend school. It is part of the BOLD district. Bird Island is the only town we drive through on our way to Willmar to visit another offspring. (We make better time by avoiding towns.) I have stopped in Bird Island and visited the quilt store and it is quite an adequate store for such a small town. Today I found out there is more to the town than meets the eye.
The town is home to Sunrise Agra Fuels, a company that makes home-heating pellets out of ag-based biomass. It is the first commercial ag-based biomass pellet company in Minnesota. While the company is headquartered in Bird Island, the facility producing the biomass pellets is located in Kensington, Minnesota. They make the pellets from soybean straw and sunflower hulls and blending in forestry waste. These pellets are an alternative to corn to be used in corn stoves. When the price of corn skyrockets, these pellets are probably a good buy. This is another example of efforts to become self-sufficient and not have to depend on foreign oil to meet our energy needs. end