Steve Moyer/Daily Mail U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton delivers a speech at Prairie Pride's biodiesel plant on Saturday.

It was a big tent celebration Saturday at the Prairie Pride plant on the western edge of Vernon County. The plant is operational and the new-age co-op invited members and the public to a grand opening with tours of the plant and speakers from state representative Barney Fisher to U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton.

A huge tent was erected just to the west of the plant parking lot and additional parking was available on a graveled area on either side of the entrance road for the hundreds of visitors.

Marvin Oerke, Prairie Pride chairman, introduced the nine speakers. Skelton was the first speaker and he quickly disarmed the crowd with a humorous remark.

"The definition of an optimist," Skelton said. "Someone who introduces a politician to share a 'few' words. I have a 45- minute speech and I'll deliver it in three minutes.

". . . You have the right name for your company -- Prairie Pride --because we take great pride in what you're doing for our state, for agriculture, and for the oil crisis we have in our country. Renewable fuels like biodiesel and ethanol are good for rural economic development, and renewable fuels help ease our dependence on foreign oil -- which is a must for our country. I'm proud of what you're doing, I'm proud of my fellow Missourians and I suppose my love affair I had since I was a boy comes to life on occasions like this, my love of the state of Missouri. We do such good things in this state, but for your initiative and the initiative of other people like you in our state of Missouri we would not be making these major steps toward renewable fuels so I compliment you on that and know that in the days ahead this will be a role model -- not just for our state -- but a role model for other parts of our country."

All of the speakers praised the work being done by Prairie Pride and the speed with which they organized the business, none more so than Missouri 125th district representative Barney Fisher who also had some words for those who oppose biofuels.

"I take a great deal of pride in it in Jefferson City and I take every opportunity I can to bedevil some of the state representatives I consider city slickers and tell them -- 'You don't have a biodiesel plant in your district? There's something wrong with you then. We're energy conscious in Vernon County.' This is a great source of pride, and not just for Vernon County but the surrounding area and the state as a whole. I would have a word of caution, there is a very pronounced anti-biofuel crowd and they cannot be allowed to be successful. They have the same mentality that told Henry Ford that the automobile would never replace the horse. They have the same mentality that told the Wright brothers that if God had meant for man to fly he would have given us wings. Thank God Henry Ford and the Wright brothers didn't pay any attention to them. The anti-biofuels crowd needs to be ignored and we will continue to be successful here in Vernon County in the 125th district and in the entire state of Missouri. This is a spectacular achievement and I wish them nothing but the greatest success."

Prairie Pride was organized in May, 2005, and completed a feasibility study to see if a biodiesel facility in the area made good economic sense -- it did. In October 2005 the group decided on a property at Eve, where the plant is now located. In January 2006, an equity drive was started that culminated in more than $36 million raised from investor/producers and membership in the new age co-op was closed. Groundbreaking for the facility was in August 2006 and construction began in November. By June 2007 15 employees were on site which increased to 29 by November of that year when biodiesel production began with soybean oil from a crush facility off site. In March 2008 the facility began receiving soybeans and in July 2008, 48 full-time staff were involved in the crush/extraction and biodiesel production.