Wannaska biodiesel project wants to be a prototype.

Byline: Mikkel Pates

Jun. 26--WANNASKA, Minn. -- While the region's farmers toil to crops put into the ground this spring, a small band of Roseau County, Minn., farmers has been busy building a prototype for economic small-scale biodiesel manufacturing -- on-farm, or for a small communities, perhaps.

"We're trying to do the hard research to find out the true economics of this," says Derek Crompton, a grass seed and oilseed specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service in Roseau, who is coordinating the project.

Tony Brateng of Ros