Farmers traditionally set aside 10% of their land to feed the horses. Now days if a farmer would set aside 10% of their land for an oil crop, they would produce enough oil and protein to supply most livestock operations.
PAY BACK TIME ON THE PRESSES
The pay back time calculated on the most popular crop, soybeans. Figuring on a ton of soybeans, the oil yield is slightly over a gallon per bushel or about 34 gallons. If the price for off road diesel is $3.70 your gain is $125.80 per ton. The meal is today's market s a wash in price between raw soybeans to meal per ton. So the net gain minus the oil to run the presses per ton is 3 gallons leaving net gain $114.70 per ton. Figuring on a double six ton presses with commercial kit powered by pto is $15000.00 divided by $114.70 is 130 tons of soybeans. (4290 bushels at 500 lbs hour or 516 hours).
Figuring the large double 20 ton presses process 400 bushels or 400 gallons oil in 24 hours that's 400 gallons times 7.7 lbs per gallon times .58 cents per lbs. equals $1786.40 per day divided by $44000.00 equals 24 days to pay for itself.
Walder Mfg is considered the "guru's " of crushing soybeans from the novelist to commercial production. Walder mfg found that double pressing soybeans is the most efficient way for three reasons.
1. More oil yield per bushel from 3/4 gallon to slightly over a gallon.
2. Higher temperature on the meal creating 49% by-pass protein.
3. The capacity of the pressing triples over single pressing.
Another reason is that the seed coming in and the meal is processed for livestock in one operation as well being compact and easy to adjust because everything is chest height.