Developing Markets for Warm Season Grass within the Pennsylvania Farm Community

Marketing Warm Season Grass Use & Benefits at 4 Ag Shows/Expos and 5 County Fairs:

Handouts, Publications & Supporting Literature:  These were compiled/produced in preparation for the scheduled events.  Before attending Farm Shows & Expos, educational publications and supporting literature had to be gathered or printed.  Certain key educational pieces were produced/reproduced and packaged for our exhibit table for distribution to visitors attending our scheduled shows & expos.  Some of these handouts are as follows:

Handouts:

The Association's Mission Statement

Planting Instructions for Warm Season Grasses by Will Brandau

The Many Uses of Switchgrass

Warm Season Grass as Poultry Bedding

Benefits of Warm Season Grasses as Poultry Bedding

Switchgrass Pellets as Horse Bedding

•  Switchgrass Pellets as Horse Bedding - Product Handout:  

At Ernst Seed 4,000 switchgrass acres yield about 10,000 tons of grass for processing annually.  Grass is harvested and bundled into 800-pound bales for storage and transport to Ernst’s $5 million tarp-and-steel processing facility capable of producing 25,000 tons of pellets a year.  At the processing plant, grass is ground, dried, formed into pellets and packaged in 1-ton bags for industrial clients in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and in smaller, more manageable bags for horse owners as far away as Louisiana.  The plant ships two tractor-trailer loads of pellets daily.  Champion horse owners have been using the pellets for several years now and are telling us they no longer have to bathe a horse during fair week. Their animals are staying dry and clean.    – Ernst Conservation Seed

• Switchgrass Silt Socks for Erosion & Sedimentation Control:

The Association invited and introduced BEG Group LLC (Ohio) and MKB Company LLC (Pennsylvania) to a group of switchgrass growers.  BEG Group LLC requires weed free stands of switchgrass (dry, square bales) for their Big Switch Erosion and Filtration Media. They stuff silt socks with grass, grass seed, and fertilizer mixes to stage on rights-of-way and disturbed land requiring erosion & sedimentation controls.  MKB Company LLC also requires switchgrass for their Diamond Sock erosion and sediment control filtration products and will travel and pick-up the grass bales they purchase from the farmer.   

With the introduction of the switchgrass silt sock industry to Pennsylvania, switchgrass prices per ton increased from $65 to $90 to $150-165 per ton during the length of this grant period. 

•  Switchgrass as Boiler Fuel:

Lin-Ka Energy Boiler heating a 7-Acre floral greenhouse in Harmony, New Jersey.  Heating with large square bales. Switchgrass fuel provided by producers in southeast Pennsylvania.

Lin-Ka Boiler Heating 7-Acre Greenhouse

www.biomasssystemssupply.com

The Association was ready to exhibit at the Farm Shows and Ag Expos, once all the above handouts and grass-uses information & photos were compiled & printed.

•  Ag Shows & Expos schedule:

Aug 14-16, 2018 –  Ag Progress Days (Penn State University, Rock Springs Farm) – Eight Association members attended, demonstrated, and discussed the benefits of switchgrass as bedding, erosion control silt socks, and bioenergy fuel.  We were situated next to PSU’s warm season grass crop field demonstration plots.   Association members discussed research results during their panel discussion to a seated audience.  This Ag Expo had 510 exhibitors and 42,000 visitors in attendance.  If we reached just 1% of those attendees with our message, then we educated about 420 visitors.  

January 8-10, 2019 – Keystone Farm Show (York Fairgrounds, York, PA) – We hosted a switchgrass booth.  This is the largest commercial farm equipment & service provider trade show in Pennsylvania.  It is the Farm Show for Farmers with 50,000 visitors and 500+ exhibitors.  Held at the York Expo Center Grandstand, York Fairgrounds, York, PA.  Targets full-time farmers in PA, NJ, MD, and northern VA.  If our message reached 1% of those visiting this year’s Keystone Farm Show, then we educated approximately 500 visitors.  

February 06-09, 2019 – 28th Annual Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture PASA Winter Conference (Lancaster Conference Center, Lancaster, PA) – The Association exhibited at the Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture PASA Winter Conference 2019 to meet & greet, educate & discuss the many benefits of warm season grass with farmers and visitors attending the show. Thousands of farmers, homesteaders, educators, agriculture & food system professionals gather for four days of intensive learning on more than 160 sustainable food and farming topics. The trade show includes over 100 vendors and 1,800 attendees.  Visitors come from more than 30 states and six countries.  If our message reached 1% of those attending, then we educated 18 visitors... which is an extremely low estimate.  During this trade show event, we spoke to a couple hundred attendees who visited our exhibit.  Also, M. Palko made a Trade Show PowerPoint presentation to a dozen attendees wanting details about growing and marketing switchgrass.

August 13-15, 2019 -- Ag Progress Days (Penn State University, Rock Springs Farm) – The Association exhibited again at the 45^th Ag Progress Days.  Ag Progress Days features include 80 acres of the latest crop & machinery technology and research exhibits, best management practices, educational programs, and guided tours.  It is one of only three agricultural exhibitions in the country sponsored by a major University.  There are 55 acres for indoor and outdoor exhibits. 

There were about 490+ exhibitors from 34 states and 4 provinces of Canada.  Of the 46,000 attendees, if we reached 1% of those attending, then we educated 460 visitors. 

                               Ag Progress Days 2019                           Keystone Farm Show 2019

•  County Fair & PA Farm Show schedule:

Prior to delivering supersacks of ground-up switchgrass as bedding to the livestock barns at the 4 county fairs and the PA Farm Show, the grass was ground to roughly 1½” size.  There was a process to grinding the switchgrass and placing it into supersacks.  Additionally, members of the Association conducted a special project which involved filling 30-gallon paper bags (leaf & garden bags) with screened switchgrass as poultry bedding, presented in a conveniently sized package. 

•  Switchgrass as Animal Bedding Demonstration at County Fairs and the PA Farm Show: 

Switchgrass supersacks were delivered & used to demonstrate animal bedding at 4 County Fairs + the PA Farm Show.  Two to four super-sacks of switchgrass were delivered to each of 4 county fairs during the summer of 2018.  Each sack weighed about 200 pounds.  Grass was ground to 1½” to be used as livestock & poultry bedding.  Using it with the following animals demonstrated satisfactory results:  poultry, dairy cows, horses, angora rabbits, guinea pigs, and goats.  Those showing angora rabbits especially liked grass bedding because it did not mat in their fur like sawdust.  Fair barn managers have requested more switchgrass for next year’s fairs.  Some who showed animals at the fairs have ordered grass for their own farm use. The smaller, 30-gallon paper packages were popular and easier to handle.  

Harvesting/Processing/Trucking Supersacks & 30-Pound Bags of Switchgrass to the County Fairs.

•  Grass 30-Gallon Bagging Demonstration:  

Grower L. Reggie is conducting a marketing experiment to bag ground-up switchgrass as backyard poultry and horse bedding.  He stuffs 30-gallon lawn & leaf brown-paper bags with 25-30 pounds of grass.  His method is to remove 90% of the dust from the grass before bagging.  30 bags on a 4’X4′ pallet weigh about 800 pounds at 18% moisture content…that’s 50 pounds per square foot of cargo space. His is a labor intensive product, but popular and easy to use.

Switchgrass Screened and Paper-Bagged for Poultry Bedding

At the 103rd Pennsylvania Farm Show 2019, (Harrisburg Farm Show Complex).  Larry Hartpence and Will Brandau took paper-bagged bedding to Harrisburg for delivery to 900 poultry barn cages.  The poultry grass bedding, banners and handouts were displayed in the poultry barn.  This is the nation’s largest indoor agricultural event, featuring 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive events, 300 commercial exhibitors, attracting over 500,000 visitors.  The economic impact to south-central Pennsylvania is enormous and estimated to be around $95 million & supports more than 18,000 jobs over the course of the week-long event. If our message reached 1% of those who visited this year’s Farm Show, then we have educated approximately 5000 show attendees at this one event.  

Switchgrass Used as Poultry Bedding

PA Farm Show & Bloomsburg Fair

•  Ag Shows & Expos and County Fair Contact Information Records & Follow-Up:

There were dozens of inquiries and follow-up requests from visitors who asked for additional information on switchgrass and other warm season grasses.  These inquiries were tabulated and sent to the Chairman of the Association, who ensured that appropriate information was sent to those who visited our exhibits at each of the shows/expos.  Those who had grass for sale were referred to Dan Arnett at Ernst Seed LLC for his help in connecting them to buyers.  Summaries of our experiences were shared with the Association membership during each of our Annual Summer Meetings held in July of 2018 & 2019. 

From the SARE FNE17-865 Final Project Report we learned the following about the delivered poultry bedding:

• Poultry farmers want bedding less than 1.5″ in length. 
• Poultry farmers want a bedding with a low moisture content.  Warm season grass comes out of the field at 6% – 8% moisture content. 
• Poultry Farmers want a bedding with minimal dust content.  Because of the low moisture content, warm season grass is very brittle and can produce a large amount of dust. 
• The hammermill with a 3/4″ screen processed the material to the desired length.  When combined with a cyclone separator and deposited into a 4’x4’x4′ super sack the material was within the desired specifications.  This process is the most available combination of equipment. 
• The 4’x4’x4′ super sacks were by far the easiest containers to fill.  If the “bang-the-bag” technique was used, any remaining dust from the cyclone dropped to the bottom of the bag.  In addition, the material in the bag was compacted by the action.  The sack weighed about 200 pounds when filled.  Supersacks were cumbersome for some to use at the county fairs….too heavy.
• The 16″x 12″x 35″ 30-gallon paper bags were the most desirable containers.  They weighed around 30 pounds when filled and were easy to stack on pallets and transport. The biggest drawback was in locating an economical bag source. 
• The automated 30-gallon paper bag process farmer Len Reggie developed is a very efficient way to process and bag warm season grass bedding.  The disadvantage of the system is it is only available at the Reggie farm.  Transporting material from other farms for processing at the Reggie farm is not cost effective.  If the Reggie equipment was mounted on a trailer and moved from farm to farm, bedding could be processed at any time of year.  Such a unit could possibly service up to 8 farms.  This is an area for additional study.

These lessons are important based on our experiences at the Keystone Farm Show and the Pennsylvania Farm Show.  At the Keystone Farm Show, people were joining the Association and paying dues on the spot.  We handed out all of our business cards at that show and the PASA Winter Conference.    We delivered switchgrass in six 200-pound supersacks to the Harrisburg Farm Show the week before it opened.  They received more than they needed, not knowing how much they would use.  Great feedback from everyone there.  The barn manager was pleased with the bedding and would like it again next year.... only not so much and in smaller packaging.  Supersacks are a great way to move material, but are cumbersome for some, who would prefer the 30-pound paper bags.  

Between the Bloomsburg County Fair and the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, we had warm season grass in 1700 bird cages.  The reaction has been positive.  Other county fairs shared similar experiences.  They liked that the switchgrass bedding stayed in the cages with the metal floors. There was not a lot of dust and the birds didn’t seem to scratch it out of the cage.  With some of the flighty birds, it cut down on airborne debris.  However, the workers did not like the bulkiness of the supersacks. They were too heavy if they had to move them.  Also, they had to wear gloves due to fine stickers and thistle mixed in with the grass.

The Poultry Chairman at the Harrisburg Farm Show reported that everyone was very happy with the performance of the warm season grass as an ammonia controller and as a drying agent.  It wicked moisture from the pens, and it kept birds drier and odors to a minimum. Even concerns about white birds being discolored proved unfounded.  Very pleased with the overall performance of the product.  

Exhibiting at farm shows, ag expos and county fairs is a successful method to spread the word about the many economic and environmental benefits of using warm season grass within the Pennsylvania farm community.  Funding is needed to meet the registration requirements at these shows and expos.  Some are not as large as others, and so, it is prudent to focus on those venues offering the largest returns.  For instance, our next exhibit will be at the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting in November 2019 in Hershey, PA.  The outreach potential at that meeting is to exhibit the benefits of warm season grasses to the Bureau’s 48,000 members.

•  Grass Producers Directory:

The Pennsylvania Grass Producers Survey Form was sent to known warm season grass producers.  New producers are added to the database as we meet them at the various shows and expos.  View the Grass Producers Survey Form, Producers Map, and 2019 Pennsylvania Warm Season Grass Producers Directory listed below:

SURVEY FORM – Grass Producers Survey Form

THE DIRECTORY – 2019 Warm Season Grass Producers Directory

PRODUCER’S MAP –

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Oxm3bEB0vmLfsYggJKUOlZBd5PDOB_vX&ll=41.53419689520351%2C-79.78426448370737&z=6

•  Ground-Truthing Fields for Acceptability:

Up to 50% of the surveyed grass farms were visited in order to verify that farmers were growing stands of warm season grasses and that they were healthy, merchantable, and tolerably weed-free.   

All farms visited to verify/satisfy the ground-truthing requirement were growing excellent switchgrass/warm season grass crops.  The following illustrate some of those healthy, marketable fields growing in Pennsylvania: 

                     Bater Farm                                                                                                              Stickle Farm

                    Trumbower Farm                                                                                        International Conservation Center

(Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Mating Farm)

                  Penn State University                                                                                            Glennon Farm

                                                                                Brandau Farm

The Association needed a method or standard to evaluate (ground-truth) how much weed content is acceptable for a field of grass to be merchantable.  Dan Arnett, Ernst Conservation Seed LLC, described his method for determining acceptable weed content for fields he evaluates.  That method is an acceptable technique the Association members can use when evaluating a field’s weed content or “purity” and is described as follows:

• With both hands, encircle a bundle of cut grass, such that fingers and thumb of the left hand just touch the fingers and thumb of the right hand, respectively.  Squeeze together a tightly packed bundle of grass now, such that your fingers and thumbs just barely touch!
• Now open both hands, palms up, allowing the bundle to fall open across your palms for visual inspection.
• Begin searching the grass bundle for evidence of “weeds”, that is, plant stems other than the desired grass crop species.
• Count the weed stems. The bundle is acceptable if the “weeds” number less than 15.
• Sample multiple bundles across the field. If most samples are acceptable, the field of grass is tolerably weed-free and merchantable.

Education/Outreach Description:

Super Sack Demonstrations at County Fairs & Exhibits at Farm Shows and Ag Expos:

The purpose of our campaign to market warm season grasses to the Pennsylvania farm community was to get the Association’s mission and objectives out to the farmer, illustrating to the farm community that incorporating warm season grasses into their farming operations is viable, useful, sustainable.  Taking supersacks of switchgrass to 4 county fairs and the PA Farm Show and sharing experiences and knowledge at 4 other farm shows/ag expos did just that.  With this approach, the Association anticipated reaching out to thousands of attendees at those fairs, shows, and expos.  The goal was that we would educate potentially 5,000 farmers/attendees.  The following table illustrates our results:

Farm Shows, Ag Expos, & County Fairs:

If we reached just 1% of the attendees with our message, the Association’s marketing campaign impacted/educated roughly 12 thousand people.  Those impacted include those who stopped by our exhibit to ask & discuss questions, picked-up literature, or browsed quietly.  They include those who read our banners & signs at the county fairs and saw switchgrass bedding in use by dairy cows, horses, goats, smaller animals and poultry.

We exceeded our goal to educate 5,000 people from the Pennsylvania farm community and increased their awareness about using warm season grasses in their farming operations.   

Press Releases & Display Ads: 

• The 2018 Press Release:  Will Brandau, Chairman, Association of Warm Season Grass Producers, prepared a press release on the work that the Association was doing to promote the marketability of warm season grasses.  The press release (attached) went out October 30, 2018 to the following 16 farming publications:

"A Census Project to Find Warm Season Grasses" - 2018 Article

A Census Project Article

Not knowing the circulation of all 16 newspapers/magazines and, conservatively, if we educated only 1,000 readers for each publication, then we impacted/educated about 16,000 people in 2018.

• The 2019 Press Release:  Late summer of 2019, the Association decided to place advertisements and information articles in two ag-specialty newspapers to promote the Association of Warm Season Grass Producers’ AWSGP objectives and to solicit potential members, grass customers, and producers.   The Farmer’s Friend, Towanda, PA and Lancaster Farming, Ephrata, PA were the two newspapers selected. 

The Farmer’s Friend is a specialty agriculture newspaper of The Daily Review and has a circulation of 8,000.  They cover most of north and central Pennsylvania and the southern tier counties of New York up into the Finger Lakes region.  Our ad campaign included a three-week run using the “Where’s the Grass?” display ad (see below) for the Empire Farm Days festival publication (New York), as well as an 8-week run in The Farmer’s Friend, distributed in Pennsylvania.  

Lancaster Farming has a circulation of 60,117 and is the leading Northeast and Mid-Atlantic farming and ag industry newspaper.  Lancaster Farming covers various agriculture industries.  Our ad campaign included a 10-week run for both the “Where’s the Grass?” display ad and the newspaper article “Changing the Focus: Demand for Switchgrass Exceeds Supply” by Will Brandau, Chairman, AWSGP (also below).  Also, the display ad was entered in their 2019 Ag Progress Days festival publication.

Conservatively, if we educated only 10% of their readership (read as “circulation”), then we educated/impacted approximately 6,800 people in 2019 during the September-October ad runtime. 

Combining this impact with the 2018 ad campaign in 16 newspapers, our two ad campaigns for 2018 and 2019 educated or impacted about (16,000+6,800) 22,800 people.  Our initial goal was to reach 5,000 people from the  Pennsylvania farm community and help them begin using warm season grasses in their farming operations.  

"Changing the Focus: Demand for Switchgrass Exceeds Supply" - 2019 Article

The Farmers Friend Ad Tear Sheet

2” X 3”  Display Ad

Grant activities have created exposure for others within the farm community:

Custom Harvester:  There is a need for custom harvesters who will harvest grass fields farm-to-farm.       N. Moss from Luzerne County is one such harvester.  He makes round bales of switchgrass and achieves about 800 pounds /bale. He is also a grass grower and is listed now in the 2019 Directory of PA WS Grass Producers.

Grass Broker:  M. Stoltzfus, Reading PA does not grow grass, but sells bedding products.  He wants large quantities of switchgrass bales for his brokerage.

Custom Cutting & Management Opportunities:   A Bucks County hospital is interested in switchgrass.  They own acres of land surrounding their hospital, which they maintain as lawn, using hospital staff.  Switchgrass requires less maintenance.  It is cut less often than lawn turf; however, the hospital does not want to manage/sell harvested bales.  

At the PASA Winter Conference, N. Crooke, Windybush Hay Farms, introduced that his Bucks County farm is not far from the hospital.  They manage/harvest 80 acres of switchgrass each year from Pennypack Park, Montgomery County.  It is delivered/sold as boiler fuel to the 7-acre floral greenhouse in Harmony, NJ.  The greenhouse operator needs more switchgrass square bales to feed his boiler, so W. Hay Farms would be agreeable to manage-sell-store-deliver the grass they would establish on the hospital’s property.  If acceptable terms can be reached, this arrangement could be a win-win for all.  

Warm Season Grass as Pollinator Habitat:  The Fort Indiantown Gap Army Depot, Dauphin County, is the last live-round artillery range on the U.S. east coast.  They manage natural switchgrass prairieland to maintain open areas on their depot for military exercises and live-round artillery practice. They also maintain 219 acres of natural prairie grassland as nesting habitat for the repatriation of the regal fritillary butterfly.  Loss of these native grasslands at this army depot would result in the extirpation of this butterfly species from Pennsylvania. The regal fritillary butterfly community at the army depot is the last found in Pennsylvania.  The only other population of this butterfly in eastern U.S. is found at Radford Army Ammunition Plant in VA.  Repatriation efforts are underway at other locations in Pennsylvania, including DCNR state parks, Valley Forge National Historical Park and Gettysburg National Military Park.

https://www.dmva.pa.gov/dmvaoffices/Environmental-Resources/Documents/Regal-Butterfly/Regal-Repatriation-Facts.pdf.

Care for this butterfly has become increasingly popular.  The Army Depot provides guided tours from May into July.  Although they grow and manage a couple hundred switchgrass acres, they don’t sell switchgrass.

                                                                                  photos: Dan Gleiter

Guided Butterfly Tours, Fort Indiantown Gap Army Depot

There are several producers in Pennsylvania that manage their grass fields for wildlife and pollinator habitat.  T. Stickle (Westmoreland County) manages a combination of warm and cool season grasses, 200 acres planted in contour strips, to provide a variety of habitat for game birds and wildlife as well as pollinator habitat.  Click on a photo and zoom-in for a better view of the distant field!

                               Stickle’s Cool & Warm Season Grass Contour Strips

B. Trumbower (Luzerne County) also manages his 35 acres of switchgrass, Big Bluestem, and wildflowers for wildlife and pollinator habitat. We had many butterflies and dragonflies join our July field tour.

                              Trumbower’s Pollinator Habitat

Presentations: Updating the AWSGP Membership, and Other Outreach Activities: 

The AWSGP members were updated/informed during three AWSGP Annual Meeting: June 2017, July 2018, and July 2019.  At each of these summer meetings, a PowerPoint presentation provided members with recent developments/accomplishments with the NE SARE Grant.  Each meeting was accompanied by a field tour of switchgrass plantings.  A total of 85 members, farmers, and associations received these educational updates.

Coordinated a field tour for the Mid-Atlantic Biomass Expos MABEX September 2017 conference at Brandau’s farm for his presentation on the many uses for switchgrass and on pelletizing switchgrass.  14 attended.

While conducting the Grass Producers Directory, surveyed farmers interested in switchgrass establishment and production.  Encouraged them to join the Association.  5 farmers became new producers and joined the Association. 

Attended a PA state prison meeting March 2019 to present the benefits and uses of switchgrass as a boiler fuel and the potential benefits to growing it on prison grounds.  6 staff and researchers attended. 

Met with the Pittsburgh Zoo's ICC Staff, Somerset County November 2017 to discuss feasibility of switchgrass as boiler fuel to heat their elephant birthing barn. The ICC is the International Conservation Center also known as the Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Mating Farm.  They grow and use switchgrass as bedding and feed.  5 attended.

Coordinated a tour Feb. 2018 of the greenhouse in Harmony NJ that heats with switchgrass square bales…. on behalf of the ICC, Somerset County and with Biomass Systems Supply representatives.  6 attended.

Made a presentation November 2018 at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts to engineers and university facility managers on the Lin-Ka boiler fueled with switchgrass and woodchips, highlighting the greenhouse in Harmony NJ as a successful example.   58 attended.

Made a presentation at the PASA Winter Conference on the economic and environmental benefits of using switchgrass in farming operations.  12 attended.