Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: grass (misc. perennial), hay
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage
- Crop Production: conservation tillage
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
- Energy: bioenergy and biofuels
- Pest Management: field monitoring/scouting, weather monitoring
- Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities
Proposal summary:
Project objectives from proposal:
The first step of the project will be to lay out and prepare ten 1 acre test plots. This will involve mowing, spraying twice, soil tests, fertilization (if called for) and planting, seeds and plugs. Some species will need to be planted as plugs due to the short growing season in this region. It is necessary to keep the field mowed to 6-8 inches during the first growing season. Growth and survival rates will be monitored throughout the growing season and harvesting will occur in late Aug/Sept. The cut grass will be left to season for varying times, directly from the field to one week.
A pellet mill will be rented in order to test different grass and bio-mass mixes and The moisture content of the hay will be tested before pelleting. After the pellets are produced they will be pressure tested for density and firmness and burn tests will be preformed to test the amount of ash produced and the BTU output.
Knowing the best grasses to plant for pelletization will allow farmers the opportunity to grow an annual cash crop for bio-fuel production. This will also allow idle fields to be put back into production.