AN Ely farmer is helping students at the College of West Anglia to turn their maize into bio-fuel.

More than 50 acres of land at Woodside Farm, near Milton, is being used to grow maize and, for the first time, the college has entered into an agreement to turn the crop into fuel.

Ely-based company, P.J. Lees High Flyer Farm, will convert the college’s crop to bio-fuel once it is harvested around October. Students will even be invited to visit High Flyer Farm to see parts of the process taking place.

Linda Kirby, agricultural director at the campus, said the decision to grow maize for the first time was driven by both weather and economic reasons.

She said: “Due to the extreme wet weather last autumn/winter we were faced with the decision to either buy in relatively expensive spring wheat seed or grow maize on a contract with a guaranteed income.”

Bio-fuel is used as a substitute for diesel in many processes, and it is seen as being more environmentally sustainable with less carbon emissions.

Come October, the Woodside Farm maize could have grown to a height of six to eight feet high.