Biodiesel Named the Official Alternative Fuel of Inaugural Tractor Pull

Biodiesel, a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement, has been named the official fuel of the inaugural Delmarva Tractor Pullers Association’s Super Pull. The event will take place on March 8 and 9 at the Harrington Fair Grounds in Harrington, Del.

“The Delaware Soybean Board is proud to partner with the Delmarva Tractor Pullers Association by providing biodiesel fuel for featured farm equipment and vehicles during the event,” said Travis Hastings, chairman of the Delaware Soybean Board. “This is the perfect venue to show that biodiesel is a powerful product with absolutely no compromise in performance.”

Biodiesel is a diesel replacement made from soybean oil and other types of fats and oils, such as recycled cooking oil. Biodiesel is safer for attendees to breathe as it dramatically reduces nearly every toxic air pollutant compared with traditional diesel. Plus, it poses the perfect opportunity for farmers to create demand for the crops they grow.

With five divisions and 39 classes, attendees will experience an array of equipment coming from across the United States and Canada. Beginning on Saturday at 8 a.m., the antique tractor pull will include as many as 600 hooks including various king of the hill classes. The pro farms, hot farms, V8 classic modified, and 4x4 truck classes will commence on Sunday at 10 a.m.

“A majority of the pullers are farmers. So by fueling their equipment on biodiesel, they’re using a product they possibly made,” said Jay Baxter, soybean farmer, charter member of the Delmarva Tractor Pullers Association and vice chairman of the Delaware Soybean Board. “Biodiesel is a fuel that is made sustainable through farmers’ efforts to grow soybeans. It’s fitting that it’s the official alternative fuel of the Super Pull.”

Baxter and other soybean farmers pay a small assessment called a “checkoff” when they sell their soybeans. The checkoff, administered in Delaware by the Delaware Soybean Board and nationally by the United Soybean Board, is sponsoring the use of biodiesel at the Delmarva Tractor Pullers Association’s Super Pull. The soybean checkoff helped develop biodiesel and supports marketing of biodiesel as a way to increase demand for soy.

Biodiesel is the first and only commercial-scale fuel produced nationwide to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) definition as an advanced biofuel under the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard, which is spurring development of sustainable alternatives to imported oil. More than a billion gallons of biodiesel were produced and sold in the United States last year.

The EPA has determined that biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 86 percent compared with petroleum diesel, depending on the feedstock used. Biodiesel also has the highest energy balance of any domestic liquid fuel, yielding five and a half units of energy for every unit of fossil energy it takes to produce it. The EPA also says biodiesel dramatically reduces nearly every toxic air pollutant compared with traditional diesel.