Pacific Ag: Biofuels Digest’s 2015 5-Minute Guide
Founded in 1998 in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Ag is the largest, most experienced agricultural biomass supply company in the US. Today, Pacific Ag provides biomass supply chain solutions from six locations across the nation and works with more growers, owns and operates more equipment, has more personnel, and harvests more biomass tons per year than any other biomass supply company in the industry.
During its 17 years, Pacific Ag has successfully built and operated industrial-scale, integrated biomass supply systems for the collection, harvest, storage, transport and marketing of agricultural residue and purpose-grown crops.
Farmers choose to work with Pacific Ag because we meet their needs for sustainable harvest practices that bring value to their ground and their farming enterprise; bioconversion companies choose Pacific Ag because we create and deliver a reliable feedstock supply that matches their specifications, quantity and cost.
The Situation
“We can save a plant the time and money in developing a supply chain,” says CEO Bill Levy. “It’s a very specific supply chain with very specific challenges and I think we have a lot of experience overcoming these challenges and developing these supply chains quicker than anybody else.”
Top Past Milestones
In August 2013, Edeniq and agriculture feedstock firm Pacific Ag have signed a five-year exclusive agreement to add cellulosic ethanol production into Edeniq’s existing biofuel facilities.”By combining Edeniq’s bolt-on production technologies for corn ethanol plants with Pacific Ag’s agricultural biomass supply capabilities, we will provide the best turnkey solution for today’s producers to economically integrate cellulosic production into their existing facilities,” indicated President & CEO Brian Thome.
In May 2013, sister companies Pacific Ag Solutions and Pacific PowerStock, both innovators in agricultural supply chain logistics, have merged to become PacificAg. The merger creates the largest agricultural residue and hay harvesting business in the US, with operations in seven states and the largest fleet of biomass harvesting equipment in the US.
Bill Levy, founder and CEO of PacificAg, noted, “Forage crops for livestock, and agricultural biomass to replace petroleum and other fossil sources in the creation of bioenergy, cellulosic biofuels, bio-based chemicals and other bio-based products: Serving these distinct customer groups involves leveraging the same equipment fleets, complementary operational and logistics skills and processes. The synergies now apparent far outweigh any benefits of operating the former companies separately.”
Major Milestone Goals
Harvest and supply 1 million tons of agricultural biomass annually in 3-5 years.
“Executing on the huge supply demands already contracted and planning and preparing for the growth in we see 24-36 months ahead.”
Business Model
Pacific Ag builds and operates commercial scale agricultural biomass supply chains. Our approach is to build a Dedicated Supply Chain as the most effective method for controlling quantity, quality and cost risks. The link below to a 2-minute video illustrates how this works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=hlCW4JdmpMY
Pacific Ag is a trusted service provider to the grower, providing long-term value to the farming enterprise with product harvesting and marketing services.
To the end user, Pacific Ag is a key enabler of a bioconversion business model, as we create and deliver a feedstock supply that matches their long-term quantity, quality and cost specifications.
Development
Pacific Ag provides a series of supply chain development services beginning with a Site Assessment, which identifies potential low-cost feedstock supply locations using geospatial mapping and proprietary algorithms moving into the various stages below, and ending with a fully operational commercial scale supply chain.
• Scaling the Supply Shed
Competitive Edge
1. Leadership and Experience
Pacific Ag’s executive management team joins together proven leaders and innovators from the agribusiness, renewable biomass and renewable energy industries. Together, the management team has more than 100 years and millions of tons of experience in every element of the biomass/animal forage supply chain, from farm operations to moving biomass through local and international markets, and to biorefineries.
2. Scale & Scope
Pacific Ag has the largest fleet of biomass harvesting equipment, network of growers and geographic operating footprint in the United States. Scale allows us to generate high asset and resource utilization and our national scope allows us to operate in different geographic market, filling more of the harvest calendar. Our large footprint diversifies supply, helping to reduce risk of disruption for weather, pests, etc. for our customers.
3. Technology Platform
• Proven methodology for identifying the lowest cost crop residue Supply Sheds™ or draw areas for the delivery to a commercial scale bioconversion facility.
• Proven methodology for grower outreach and commercial scale supply sheds™ development.
• Proprietary integrated supply chain operating system, PowerStock Pro, linking grower contracts to resource deployment and field performance, inventory, settlements and stockholder reporting.
Category: 5-Minute Guide
