Marketing services Agricultural products are frequently subjected to market analyses by the USDA such as economic and census reports. As the commercialization of algae progresses, market analyses will be advantageous to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the industry, the interplay between the agricultural and energy aspects of algae, and the outlook of the industry. The USDA also provides marketing

assistance to farmers through financial assistance, research and promotion (AMS 2013). To successfully break Selleckchem 5-Fluoracil into the agricultural market, algae would benefit from the marketing services available from the USDA. State programs Defining the commercial cultivation of algae as agriculture provides opportunities at the state level as well. Many states offer additional loan and financing programs, especially for first-time farmers, such as “Aggie Bonds” that encourage private lenders to loan to beginning farmers (CDFA 2005). Beyond financial assistance, states can control laws associated with agricultural property and zoning. For example, the Ohio state legislatures recently defined algaculture as agriculture to allow use value Opaganib assessments of algae cultivation land for tax purposes, thus lowering property taxes for land used for commercial algaculture (OH-H.R. 2012). The

law additionally limits the authority of zoning laws to restrict algae cultivation on lands. Although decisions on specific investments in algae development are made at the regional and local levels, a federal initiative is still imperative to establish and influence direction and focus for the industry, as well as to develop guidance for new algae programs. Application of agricultural programs to algae Opportunities currently exist for algae cultivation to expand commercialization DCLK1 within agriculture if it were defined as such.

The most notable is the potential to fill a large void in agriculture of the use of non-arable land to produce renewable hydrocarbons and high value protein. Unlike terrestrial crops, algae do not require fertile soil or arable land for growth, thus expanding the areas of the country in which algae can be cultivated. Algae do require other inputs such as salt or freshwater, nutrients, and consistent year-round sunlight. Taking all of these factors into account, a recent study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) identified ~90,000 sites in the U.S. that would be suitable for algaculture, comprising ~5.5 % of the contiguous U.S. land mass and consisting predominantly of shrub/scrub landscape. These sites exclude any cropland, urban land, protected lands, wetlands, wilderness, or significantly sloping landscapes (Wigmosta et al. 2011). To compare, agricultural land currently utilizes over 40 % of the total U.S. land mass. The USDA currently asserts jurisdiction of algae as an agricultural crop, and can potentially offer agricultural safety net programs to algal biomass companies.