Mid October

This post is for the end of season pictures I was able to get in mid October. Miscanthus is easy to spot as the foxtail had all died out. Many of the plants were doing really well, but the population of miscanthus plants was not what we had hoped it would be. This first season was a great learning experience. Basically no biomass to harvest this year, we hope to see a tremendous regrowth in the spring.

Ending of Summer

The miscanthus plot has been doing very well over the summer. Fairly frequent rains, good sunshine, and heat have all helped grow the biomass. The broad leaf plants are gone, but the foxtail grass still grew up with the Miscanthus. It is most likely competing for sunshine if anything. The root mass of the foxtail looks sililar to the miscanthus of a fair amount of grass "stalks" coming out of the same cluster. the ground is rather bare, very similar to a corn field, completely canopied by the grass leaves. We are happy with the first year results.

The next big task is determining how to dig up the rhizomes for later propagation next spring. Still in the plan for this fall is to watch the grass go dormant, and try and harvest some of the grass over the winter. We would like to plan a field day next spring depending on how this fall and winter ends up.

The miscanthus plot can be rowed somewhat for the plants that are taller than the other grass. 

We drove into the back of the field to get a look at the best stand in the plot. A picture of Denny here standing by a row of 1st year miscanthus.

Lots of other grass though...

I took a picture from the road to view the plot from a distance, it was a little too level between the two terraces to see much. 

Miscanthus learning event

We were invited to attend a field day just south of Greenfield at the Iowa State University Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration Farm in Adair county. There were several great topics on No-Till practices, cover crops, and miscanthus grass. Interesting to me the John Deere 2510H was exhibited for its low disturbance NH3 application. In a previous position as and engineer at John Deere, I had the opportunity to work on that machine when being first introduced to the market. The information is available at the Iowa learning farm website:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ilf/

We were able to speak a short bit about out experience of farming miscanthus, and it was great to see how interested the attendees were on the topic. 

There is also a like to a great Webinar on the site above by Emily Heaton from Iowa State University covering growing miscanthus grass as a dedicated bioenergy crop.

Lots of good sunshine, heat, and rain on the miscanthus plot. With the weeds knocked down, it is performing well. When we were at the field day mentioned above, it was great to see second year and first year miscanthus side-by-side. Sadly, my camera only saved blank images when I was there, so none to post today. It was good to see how our plants compare - they look like great first year plants. All we can expect now is for the plants to continue to do well, go dormant well in the fall, and really produce come biomass next year.

Weed Patrol

In early July the field was getting pretty weedy. After a few more days, the weeds were getting to be significantly bad and the field was sprayed before the weeds could do any damage. Below are some pictures several days after spraying. With close inspection, one can see some rows of grass in the weed patch. Note this post is a little dated, these pictures are from early July.  To spray the acre a pesticide mix was made up and applied using a 4-wheeler spray boom. Chemical applied was 2,4-D,  Atrazine, and AMS (ammonium sulfate).

You can sort of see cross rows of the grass among the dying weeds.

another cross row picture, one can see the taller miscanthus grass.

Slow and steady

On July 3rd, I was able to make it out to the farms and have a good look at the miscanthus plot. We were also lucky enough to have Emily Heaton from Iowa State University meet us to have a quick tour. We were able to discuss the plot, growing expectations, equipment & labor, and talk about general practices and shared lessons learned over years of growing miscanthus as well as other research and personal projects. I look forward to sharing our experiences into the future with what works, what doesn't, and how to logistically make a biomass crop really work.

As traditional Iowa farmers, my dad and I can easily look as our new grass plot and say that it looks terrible. The nearby corn is approaching shoulder height, and the grass is far behind other nearby established brome grass.  But this is a new plant, and we have to change our mindsets. Upon closer inspection, there are a lot pf plants coming, and they seem to be doing well.

First view entering the plot. Quite a bit of foxtail in this area, but this is right next to the driveway entrance to the field. Same vantage point as many other previous pictures.

This is at the top of the hill in the middle of the plot. A few really good rows are visible without a lot of weeds around. The tall skinny grass is the miscanthus, everything else are weeds.

 
There needs to be a broad-leaf pesticide application soon, but it really looks like the miscanthus might make it! Emily assured us that the stand of first year rhizome grass looked really good. Her pleasant surprise helped calm our original doubts.

I got a yardstick and took a couple pictures of a few plants. I would guess that about 75% of plants are up, and of them 50% or better look like these plants below with the rest still very small as if they just came out of the ground. It will be better to see again after the broad-leaves are killed off.

25" single plant lots of good looking leaves.

Good sized plant, 4+ separate plants coming out of the same rhizome.

Smaller plant here 10" in height and only a few leaves, this is the general middle range of plants out there at this time

Another good medium sized plant. The terrace grass is in the background.

Growing update

I missed posting a few weeks ago when I took some more pictures of the grass starting to poke through the soil. A week or so after planting temperatures started to climb, and with all the rain we have had, the volunteer foxtail grass started growing. we tried to keep it knocked down by harrowing the ground well until the miscanthus started to come through.
These pictures were all taken June 12, 2011, 25 days after the initial planting.

After all the rain, a pool of water sits in the low spot. This is the view from the field entrance

This is on the back side of the hill. You can see there was quite a bit of erosion that happened from the rain and no soil cover. The stubble that was  harrowed in was still in the top portion of the soil. There was not deep gullies created by the rain.

Here is a grass coming out. very new. This likely just came through in the last day or two.

A little hard to see but this and the two below attempt to row the grass by sight. They are there, but are so small you have to almost know what your looking for, The grass is about 3-6" tall and doming through at the spaced we planted. It look like there is a good percentage of survival rate of the rhizomes. They are just slow to get started.

Coon Rapids Enterprise

Page 5 of the Coon Rapids Enterprise, Thursday, May 26, 2011 has our story
Energy Grass growth test begins near Manning

Also, same story on the front cover of the Manning Monitor today, Thursday June 2, 2011.

Poking out

We finally have sunshine and heat! And wow is the gras growing! We dug up a few rhizomes over the past weekend to be sure they were growing. Sure enough they were starting to sprout out new shoots. Very small though. Since then we have had temps in the 90's and lots of sunshine (and some evening rain). The rhizomes I planted in a pot outside my back door sprouted on May 31st and haven't stoped since. I even planted it in junk clay soil to test the worst conditions I could.  So I am feeling much better about the rhizomes taking off.

Rain and publicity

Nothing but rain since planting. A few nice warm days in between, and overall good weather. Almost 4 inches of rain since planting. It would be nice to warm up some.

A nice article was included on page 9 of the May 28, 2011 Iowa Farmer Today. I couldn't find the article online though.

We're in the ground!

On Wednesday May 18th we were able to get the rhizomes in the ground. A good rain fell Friday morning and Friday night that should set the scene for great growth. We hope to see some leaves breaking the soil soon.

An article in the local paper about the receiving of the  grant was published in the Denison Bulletin.

During planting John Klein formally of the M&M divide RC&D visited and wrote a new article about our endeavors and distributed that around. I hope to see more on that soon.

Planting got started early around 8:30 am on a great spring day. Rob sat with me on the back to plant rhizomes while Denny drove. We found the rate of rhizomes went fairly well. Rob and I fed about as fast as we could and Denny adjusted the speed of the tractor to adjust the rate per acre. Rob and I could see down the tube really well to make sure our approximate spacings were correct. The high rate plot was placed on 40" rows and 6" apart. This was altered from out original plan so that we would not plant double rows. The benefit of double rows did not seem worth it when we got into the field. if we find issues with the growth of 6" spacing we will make note and adjust next time.The mid population density was aimed to be 9" apart, but we also ran up to 12" a time or two while getting the speed right. The low population runs were 18" apart. The low population is more in the lines of large plantation style plant populations and seemed very straight forward if we were to do a much larger area.

Fist run of the season

final design planter in operation

Of the rhizomes, we received roughly 1,000 to a box. We were able to measure our work to how fast we went through boxes of rhizomes.  For the high density plot, each of the 4 500' runs took roughly 20 minutes and 2 full boxes to complete. The low population density plot took only 10 minutes and one box to complete. The middle range plot ran around 1.25 to 1.5 boxes each run.

The planter worked out really well. It dug a 4 inch furrow where the rhizomes were dropped into. then about 2" of dirt filled in on top of the rhizome followed by a packer wheel to increase the soil contact. When it was all done there were some good deep furrows in the field. It was visible that some rhizomes needed better cover. We expected to harrow the field. This was done and smoothed out the field. The rhizomes after the harrow work were about 4" deep in loose packed soil.

finished planting

This was about half done planting

Pulling the harrow through the furrows

After harrowing, the rhizome is just below my fingers. The soil level is at my thumb

There was a 20' stretch in one pass during the middle population where the plows came up too high and were not covering the rhizomes. It turned out to be a great example to view how the rhizomes were planted. After these pictures, we brought the planter back right beside the line and buried the rhizomes again.

Below is an older video I wanted to post of the planter in operation. This video was early on. One of the first field tests. After this video what was changed is mentioned in some posts below to optimize it for rhizomes, otherwise, very good operation.

Ready to Roll

 We received the miscanthus rhizomes last week, and found out what we were dealing with.

Boxes of rhizomes

Rhizomes is a box

The rhizomes varied is size. Most were a generid size of a finger with some roots attached. Every now and then there was a root that was close to the size of an entire hand.

Three standard rhizomes by my hand

This past weekend we were able to get the planter ready to go. After seeing the rhizomes we did a little re-design to get the planter ready to go.

We configured the drop tube to be a 6" PVC pipe that dropped center on the row. this let us add a nice seat behind the basket, and raise the basket to a workable height. We had to remove the old wheel packers, and rather changed them out for some old International planter packer wheels we had available.

Planter from behind

Added wings to the original plow shanks to prevent dirt from filling it the furrow

Side of the planter, taken when a little dark, but you can see the parts. 

Rhizomes

We are getting miscanthus rhizomes from my partner company out of Canada, New Energy Farms. they are a great resource on miscanthus and have been producing the rhizomes for several years now. The order was placed after the grant was awarded, but due to spring weather and other shipping requirements, the rhizomes are planned to ship April 25, and they should arrive by that weekend on the 29th. The ground is wet, and getting more soaked by the day. Even snow in the North parts of Iowa. We have had off and on drizzle for the past week. Many farmers around are waiting on the weather as well. A few local row-crops went in during mid-April but nothing substantial due to cold soil temperatures and wet conditions. Soil temperature as of April 18 was 42 Degrees F, which is warm enough for miscanthus to go Iowa State Soil Temps. We are now waiting for things to dry up.

The miscanthus plants are noninvasive, asexual rhizomes of the Illinois clone family. The grass is determined to be the best high yielding biomass plants. The plants are also very efficient. They use deep roots to access water reserves, and use the above ground foliage to soak nutrients from the atmosphere. When the plant goes dormant in the late fall, the nutrients return to the roots ready for the next season. NEF video

To achieve the 3 population densities that we are planting we will plant double rows for the mid- and high-population densities of 16,000 and 24,000 rhizomes per acre, and single rows for the low population density control of 8,000 rhizomes. Each row will be 40" apart, and the double rows will be between 10" and 20" apart on 40" centers. the high population will be an extremely high density planting every 12" in each row. The mid-range population will be planted every 16" in a row. This is assumed as the best range for optimal growth. Most studies do not dig rhizomes after a single year, and so we hope the high population does well to speed the propagation of rhizomes. High multiplication of rhizomes is critical to our farm establishing a large plot of miscanthus. The low population plot will be planted every 16"-18" in the single row. This can be seen as risky due to the likelihood of some of the plants not growing as desired. This will leave large blank spots in the field of no-growth. The low population plot is designed to mimic establishment plots, not propagation plots, and will not be dug up. It will rather be monitored for the full two years to see how well the plants spread and fill in over each growing season.

Planter test

More to come. 1st field test without rhizomes. New reconfigured 2 row planter.

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Land and a Planter

We found the right piece of ground for our miscanhtus trial. We needed a one acre patch, which is bigger that what one might think. Any of the the yard area was too small, and any large patch was already in CRP. We did find one area on a North side-hill that is between 2 terraces. The area is a little over one acre. We wanted to avoid critical tile lines to protect the remaining farm ground, and wanted a relatively good area of ground that won't dry out too quickly.
We do not irrigate and have clay-loam soils. this is great for growing corn, but makes the soil somewhat heavy and dense for planting and digging rhizomes. We will give it a shot either way.

We picked up a planter to lease for planting rhizomes. It is a two row Ferguson Lister planter. The Lister planter cuts a deep furrow and is designed to plant corn in the furrow. We will modify the planting mechanism so that we can manually feed rhizomes from a seat mounted on the packer wheels. The photo from an online owner's manual is attached. http://www.ntractorclub.com/forums/manuals/messages/5409.html

The planter has 40" rows which should work great for our needs. we will plant double passes so 20" centers when completed, but 40" gives us room to work between the rows.
It is also recommended to double up rows to make next season digging go more smoothly. We may keep 40" centers, and plant double rows 12" apart for each 40" row. this will help us when digging up the rhizomes next year.

For the low population plot, 40" centers and 40" between plants will be how it is spaced. For the medium population plot we will have double rows 40" apart and plants every 20" in each row. This is to double the plant density from 8,000 to 16,000 rhizomes per acre. The high population plot will simulate 24,000 rhizomes per acre. This will have double rows on 40" centers planted 12" apart in each row. We will have to see how fast we can plant and how slow the tractor can go to achieve this. I assume a lot of work, but for a great reward.

Say what?

Why miscanthus? Why biomass?

I believe biomass will be required for energy and chemical use in the very near future. I know economical technologies are available to process raw biomass into usable renewable products. The problem is that there is no biomass supply available. Miscanthus is to me the best option for producing large amounts of biomass next to fast growing trees. Trees are much more of a time commitment and upfront investment than what is realistic at this time. The grass grows fast, is hearty, and is perennial.

One day there will be a need for biomass farmers. I am one today. Miscanthus has been grown in many regions, by many farmers, and for many reasons. Still, it is not produced enough to matter in the Midwest United States. Europe has been slowly advancing in this renewable energy option, hopefully the lessons learned there and in this grant can help move the biomass farming career forward a few steps.

Growing Miscanthus @ University of Illinois

Thank you USDA's North Central Region (NCR) Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer-Rancher grant program

This blog is being created and monitored to document the work of growing giant miscanthus grass. My father and I received a grant From the NCR-SARE to grow miscanthus for propagation and monitor the soil health throughout the process of standard growth and harvesting.
Titled " Growing and Propagating Giant Miscanthus for Biomass Production and Natural Resource Conservation"
I am for one thrilled as this is my open door to begin farming. This also a great opportunity for my father to learn a new plant to grow and maintain. We are very conservation minded when it comes to land husbandry and we want to determine if miscanthus is really the right fit for us.

The results from this study will be shared here and in local newspapers and interested citizens.

This project and all associated reports and support materials were supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed within do not necessarily reflect the view of the SARE program or the U.S. Department of Agriculture

NCR-SARE