I haven't found switchgrass easy to grow. I used the county's special prairie grass drill but it still took a couple years to come up and the patch has much other grass, weed, and small tree material that doesn't mow so nicely.
The biggest problem I see with switchgrass over corn as grain is that I believe the volume of switchgrass will be signicantly greater per gallon of ethanol production and that storage space gets outrageous. Then the switchgrass has to baled and those bales tossed about, loaded, hauled, and unloaded, with far less ease than augering and dumping grain. Ethanol plants, even corn based, tend to not store more than about a 1 week supply of grain. So we farmers have to deliver weekly on their schedule from OUR storage. When switchgrass takes several times the storage volume, storing and hauling gets to a much greater task. Switchgrass grows only in summer (a warm season grass) and yields only one cutting and you have to careful to not cut too close to the ground or you kill it.
If my switchgrass patch wasn't usually too wet for a grain crop, I'd plant it in something else. Wet is supposed to be best for switchgrass.
Then there is the LITTLE problem that the enzymes needed to convert cellulose to sugar just barely work, without the effiency needed for production ethamol plants today. There are beliefs in the industry that adequately effective enzymes will be developed "real soon now". I don't have inside information.
Right now cellulosic ethanol is just beyond a "Pie in the Sky" dream. It may never work well, but if it works it may work equally well on corn stover, hay, switchgrass, wood scraps, kudzu, and scrap paper, if the inks don't kill the enzymes.
One plant has been announced in northern Iowa and in the last couple weeks on was announced to be built in Georgia to work with wood scraps.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Tuning-Up Your Tractor: Plugs & Compression Testing - by Curtis Von Fange. The engine seems to run rough. In the exhaust you can hear an occasion 'poofing' sound like somethings not firing on all cylinders. Under loaded conditions the tractor seems to lack power and it belches black smoke out of the exhaust. For some reason it just doesn't want to start up without cranking and cranking the starter. All these conditions can be signals that your unit is in need of a tune up. Ok, so what is involved in a tune up? You say, swap plugs and file the points....now tha
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
1964 I-H 140 tractor with cultivators and sidedresser. Starts and runs good. Asking 2650. CALL RON AT 502-319-1952
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
