Montana Farmers Union (MFU) recently held a Grand Opening for the organization’s newest business endeavor Montana Safflower Oil. The farm organization purchased the Oil Barn in January, renamed the business Montana Safflower Oil and relocated the oil press to Ag Processing Solutions near Great Falls. MFU is the majority owner in the partnership with Andrew Bishop, owner of Ag Processing Solutions.
MFU has a history of seeing a need and creating a cooperative solution to fulfill that need. They are involved in two meat processing plants and are working on a distribution system to create a direct to market process to benefit Montana agriculture producers. “We want to get local processing in local areas to help our communities,” said Walter Schweitzer, President of Montana Farmers Union.
Montana Safflower will continue to press the seeds from about 1,000 acres of safflower which were contracted with the Oil Barn. As the popularity of the product grows Bishop is hoping to expand the number of acres contracted to 10,000 acres in the next five years and thinks there is potential to expand to 30,000 contracted acres.
The company started pressing oil in February and is marketing the cold pressed cooking oil on their website www.montanasafflower.com. “Logistics are the problem right now,” Schweitzer said, “Getting product in the bottle and keeping inventory on the shelf is a challenge.”
“Demand is strong right now,” said Schweitzer. Safflower oil has become a go to cooking oil because of its high oleic heart healthy monounsaturated fats and vitamin E content. The product has a high smoke point, long fry time and is appealing to restaurants and commercial kitchens as well as the home cook.
The process of extracting the oil from the safflower seed uses a cold-press method that relies only on physical pressure, with no chemicals. The oil is then placed in barrels so particulates can settle. Next, the oil is drawn from the top of the barrel, leaving the particles behind, filtered, bottled, labeled, and prepared for market. “From press to bottle takes about 48-hours,” Schweitzer said.
At this time the oil press only runs eight-hour shifts, but the business hopes to become automated to run 24 hours sometime in the future. The plant can process about 2,000 pounds of Safflower seed per eight-hour shift which will produce around 500 pounds of oil.
Safflower is suited to Montana growing conditions. It is a deep-rooted crop that can help break up hard pan soil and reach moisture and nutrients that shallower rooted plants don’t utilize. The tight seed head makes it shatter resistant so there is less wind damage compared to some other crops. Safflower is a later maturing plant, so harvest comes later and spreads the demands of harvest to a larger window.
MFU believes that Montana Safflower Oil will create a durable Safflower market to support growers, keep dollars closer to home and strengthen rural economies while producing a product that is desirable for cooking.
The cold-press process creates a by-product that is high in protein that can be blended off to make a livestock feed. Long range plans for MFU include pelletizing the meal for another revenue stream. They are also exploring the possibility of using the meal in food-grade bioplastics that would be fully biodegradable. Currently the meal is being stored in bags until there is enough product to do something with it.
MFU works to ensure fairness for farmers and their families while supporting a future in which the organization’s advocacy, education, and community-building efforts across Montana help keep agriculture strong and viable. Investing in Montana Safflower Oil is one of the ways MFU adds value to Montana agriculture and helps keep the industry sustainable.
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