Regional Feedstock Partnership: 2009 Switchgrass Report Vance Owens South Dakota State University San Antonio, TX February 2010 Field trial PIs: D. Bransby (AL), E. Heaton (IA), R. Farris (OK), R. Mitchell (NE), D. Viands (NY), J. Fike (VA),

Overall Objective  Establish and perform replicated field trials of diverse herbaceous biomass feedstocks at different locations for assessing potential expansion of these feedstocks as a bioenergy resource

Herbaceous crops information SpeciesRelative plot sizeSpecies leadInstitution SwitchgrassLargeVance OwensSDSU MiscanthusSmallTom VoigtUniv. of Ill. SorghumSmallBill RooneyTexas A&M EnergycaneSmallBrian BaldwinMiss. State Univ. CRP mixturesLargeDoKyoung LeeUniv. of Ill.

Switchgrass objective  Assess yield potential and quality parameters of switchgrass grown in different environments using standard agricultural practices

Switchgrass field trial locations and PIs  Alabama – David Bransby  New York – Don Viands  Oklahoma – Rodney Farris  South Dakota – Vance Owens (sustainability site – Tom Schumacher, Shannon Osborne, Dave Clay, Chang Oh Hong)  Virginia – John Fike  Iowa – Emily Heaton (added in 2009)  Nebraska – Rob Mitchell (added in 2009)  Group met in Brookings, SD in September 2009

Switchgrass Trial Information LocationCultivarPlanting DateArea (ha) AlabamaAlamo15 May OklahomaBlackwell2 Sep New YorkCave-In-Rock29 May South DakotaSunburst17 May VirginiaAlamo1 July IowaCave-In-Rock8 May NebraskaShawnee5 May

Experimental Design  Field scale (0.4 to 0.8 ha experimental units)  Four replicates across landscape  Nitrogen (0, 56, 112 kg ha -1 ) applied in 2009 to all sites established in 2008  Locally adapted cultivar at each location Planting at Ames, IA – 8 May 2009

Data collection  Initial soil characteristics utilizing minimum soil data set  Total organic carbon; soil pH; Total N; Bulk density; Soil- test P and K  Yield using standard equipment  Subsamples from plots for chemical characterization (samples are being stored at INL at this point)  Other

2009 N application and switchgrass harvest dates Location N application date Harvest dateArea (ha) AlabamaNA TBD Oklahoma16 June13 Nov.7.3 New York20 May22 Oct.4.9 South Dakota5 June28 Oct.9.7 Virginia13 May10 Jan IowaEarly MayNA7.3

Switchgrass establishment based on frequency method of Vogel and Masters (2001) Spring of year after establishment in NY, OK, SD, VA and year of establishment in IA

Stand frequency determination in South Dakota

Switchgrass response to N at four locations in 2009 Switchgrass root biomass to 100 cm 1.73 Mg ha -1

Average height of switchgrass at harvest at four locations

Nebraska switchgrass yield ( )

Fertilizer application Bristol, SD – 5 June 2009 (70 ft boom)

Switchgrass harvest Ithaca, NY – 22 October 2009 Bristol, SD – 28 October 2009

Switchgrass baling and sampling Bristol, SD – 28 October 2009 Ithaca, NY – 22 October 2009

Challenges thus far  Establishment  Alabama to replant, Oklahoma planted twice  Weeds  South Dakota and Virginia – thin stands (stand frequency less than 30% year after planting  Weather/field conditions  Economics

Virginia – Summer 2008 Bristol, SD – 8 October 2009 Stand establishment

Weather/field conditions Bristol, SD – 28 October 2009 My version of the “cinnamon role” Bristol, SD One of wettest Octobers on record One of warmest Novembers on record N

2010 Plans  Alabama will be replanting trial  All other sites will apply treatments and harvest biomass  May add another trial in IL

Switchgrass response to N at four locations in 2009 Switchgrass root biomass to 39 inches 0.77 Tons acre -1