Summary Report: Agronomy Forum on Agricultural Biomass for Combustion Energy

1. Synopsis
2. Introduction and Context
3. Presentations and Forum Highlights
4. Conclusions Emerging from the Forum

• Miscanthus has many beneficial characteristics: e.g. low inputs (fertilizers, crop protection products), high yields and returns, few pest issues, positive energy balance, contribution to biodiversity, soil erosion mitigation and carbon sequestration (1 – 1.18 tonne/acre/year), use of regular harvesting equipment, sustainable yields for up to 20 years, efficient water use, opportunities for full value chain development from farm to end user, ability to grow in any region of Ontario (different varieties available)
• Establishment costs range from $340 to $480 per acre; land preparation costs approximately $150 per acre
• Yields higher on good soils; range in different geographies is reported to be 8 to 26 dry tonnes/acre; 3rd year Leamington crop is yielding 21-25 dry tonnes/acre
• Heavier soils are best for Miscanthus
• Currently planted from rhizomes but researchers are working on seeded varieties
• Currently enough foundation material (rhizomes) to plant 80,000 acres in Ontario; New Energy Farms has foundation sites around the province
• Late winter/spring harvest; 15-20 per cent moisture
• Stored in bales that are covered with sheet of polyethylene to repel precipitation, depending on the end use
• Base energy value is 16.9 million BTU/tonne of dry matter (17.9 gigajoules/tonne)
• Value of carbon offset credits on the voluntary market is currently approximately $12/unit in Ontario; in the EU, it's 14 euros; research is needed to validate this
• Miscanthus can be grown in Ontario, but a big hurdle is the need for market development and an understanding of the price that markets will pay

• Switchgrass is the most risk-free crop a farmer can grow. It has a high tolerance for temperature and precipitation extremes, is not susceptible to mould or fungus, outruns weeds, does not spoil in the field (in the swath), makes use of standard farm equipment (balers, forage harvesters, discbines), is carbon neutral, friendly to wildlife, prevents erosion, improves soil structure, and can be grown on marginal soils and in hilly areas
• Soils should be lighter, with reasonable drainage; not good on wet soils; field-tile-friendly
• Nine to 10 pounds of seed per acre are used to establish the crop
• In Huron County, Cave-in-Rock variety is recommended; in first year, it may be planted with a cover crop (e.g. oats or wheat) as a weed control measure and to provide a source of income; no fertilizer in first year (would encourage weeds)
• In second year, weed control and fertilization (40 pounds of nitrogen and potash per acre) are recommended; 50% yield potential
• In year three, fertilization is optional; no herbicides are required; yield is 4 - 4.5 dry tonnes/acre on land capable of producing normal yields of corn, soybeans and wheat
• Cut with four- to five-inch stubble in late fall and left in swaths on the field over the winter to enable nutrients and other elements to leach out
• Harvest in April to early May; late harvest means chlorine, ash, phosphorus and nitrogen levels are reduced, making the biomass better for combustion; seven to eight per cent moisture; sharp stubble is hard on tires
• Can store in covered storage, with bale wrap or in a traditional straw stack; if baled wet, will not heat up
• Volumes available are still unknown

• Potential to produce and consume biomass in the local community is appealing
• 70-acre crop established in 2006:
  • Year 1: no-till seeding of Cave-in-Rock with John Deere 750; no cover crop; seeded late May; heavy weeds
  • Year 2: harvest and baling in spring (1.5 tonnes/acre)
  • Year 3: broadcast urea and potash blend; no weed control – weed pressure virtually gone; swathed in mid March, harvested with forage harvester, stored in "Ag-Bag" (3 tonnes/acre)
  • Year 4: fertilized with urea; applied N from 0 to 200 lbs/acre; spot sprayed for dandelions; crop swathed in January 2010
• 46-acre crop establishment in 2009:
  • No-till seeding with cover crop of barley
  • No fertilizer used
• Constructing small-scale pellet plant
• Challenges: balancing efficient production with capital requirements, keeping storage costs to a minimum, deriving an appropriate value in the marketplace, significant opportunity cost due to the long establishment period (cash flow issue); incorporating other types of biomass while maintaining quality, diversifying markets beyond heat
• Industry challenges: need network of industry members, market stability to maintain product quality, furnaces that create end-user confidence, offering a system that encourages conversion from fossil fuels, knowledge of combustion and emissions, lower costs for transportation and storage

• ALUS pays farmers growing polycultures $150/acre for biodiversity benefits (e.g. habitat for endangered species like badgers and bobolinks)
• Can include up to 52 different grass species; high diversity
• Bryan characterizes what he is doing as harvesting solar energy
• Roots provide carbon storage and fix nitrogen; potentially carbon-negative (i.e., carbon credit opportunity)
• Planted in 15-inch rows to allow filling in
• Clump grasses plus a range of flowers e.g. cup plant, compass plant (both of which are 10 feet tall) and Echinacea add energy density
• Show Me Energy (a co-operative in Missouri) claims 6-7000 BTU/lb is achievable on grass only and approximately 8,000 BTU/lb on a grass/flower mixture
• Polycultures do better in 20th year (long-lived); Walpole Island has 1000-year-old stands
• Grasses thrive in hotter temperatures and are drought-tolerant
• Since seed is "fluffy" (feather-like), a special seeder is used (no-till drill with extra seed box to handle fluffy seed and another box to hold seed that flows)
• Emerges in late May (seed right before it turns 30°C); this helps reduce competition with weeds
• Not sure what yields are; reports range from 4-8 tonnes/acre
• Challenges include needing a better understanding of: soil carbon, use of legumes for nitrogen, the mix of polycultures that pelletizer will demand (i.e. standardization) and that will maximize yield, how invasion from cool-season species can be avoided, whether prairie grasses can be part of long-term rotations (to take advantage of soil carbon that builds up), and yields that can be expected

• Picture is still emerging and some aspects are still unclear; no need to wait for full certainty to proceed
• Research is completed or underway to: compare different varieties of perennial grasses, compare herbaceous biomass to woody (poplar and willow), understand tall grass prairie agronomy, complete life cycle assessments, predict biomass availability, undertake Miscanthus vs. switchgrass comparisons, compare 26 Miscanthus genotypes, evaluate cold tolerance and develop weed control procedures
• What we know about perennial grasses for biomass production:
  • Energy crops have more potential than agricultural residues
  • Residues have significant technical and sustainability constraints
  • Varieties are available for Southwestern Ontario with reasonable winter tolerance including avoidance of lodging
  • Suitable seeding methods are known for switchgrass
  • Experience is building with plug establishment methods for Miscanthus, but there is still some uncertainty
  • Understanding of pre-emergent grass and broadleaf weed control as well as post-emergent broadleaf weed control
  • Nitrogen will be required to maintain soil tilth
  • Fall and spring switchgrass and Miscanthus yield, moisture, nutrient content, nutrient removal rates
  • Miscanthus yields are: Nagara sp. between 16.5-19.5 dry tonnes/ha harvested in fall; 10 dry tonnes/ha for switchgrass (30% reduction when collected dry in spring)
  • Technical aspects of harvesting and storage
  • Techniques to eradicate Miscanthus and switchgrass
  • Low invasive potential of Miscanthus (M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus) and switchgrass
  • Soil carbon/soil quality effects
• What we don't know:
  • Minor use registration of herbicides
  • Post-emergent grass control, particularly C3 perennial grasses
  • Transitioning from a sod or pasture – is a crop year required?
  • Miscanthus propagation methods that reduce cost and decrease variability of stand establishment
  • Effect of land class and crop heat units on yield (particularly Miscanthus)
  • Miscanthus/switchgrass establishment, harvest and yield on poorly drained, cold soils
  • Technical aspects of storing undensified material (Don Nott working on this)
  • Alternative uses – livestock bedding, livestock feed, anaerobic digestion (producers need options)
  • Effect of harvest timing on moisture, yield and winter survival
  • Polycultures (all current work is focused on monocultures)
  • Varity development/enhancing Miscanthus genetic diversity
  • Susceptibility to disease and insects
  • Need combustion demonstrations – collect data, test a range of materials
  • Availability of financing options (harvest in spring of year four, followed by combustion)
  • Policy/program development – some incentive is needed to get biomass going like what's provided for solar and other technologies

• U of G has approximately 55 acres of willow planted
• 170,000 ha of degraded, marginal farmland for plantations within 100 km of Niagara and Essex counties; not targeting prime agricultural land
• 100-km radius is considered the "economic growing zone"
• Selection of equipment to minimize carbon emissions is important; Swedish Step Planter thought to be preferable; it cuts whips into 25 cm segments and jams them into the soil
• Trials underway on agroforesty and monoculture sites
• Land preparation should start the year before planting; post-emergent weed control required to get good establishment; no herbicides after second year
• Hybrid clones being used; 15,000 stems/ha
• Coppicing results in 40,000+ stems/ha
• Fertilization every three years
• Allow to grow for three years prior to first harvest; seven cycles are possible before replanting
• First harvest yields – 6 dry tonnes/ha/year
• First willow bale harvester in Canada used – from Quebec (Anderson biobaler) with a Fendt tractor
• Allow to winter dry in field; in May, bales have approximately 12-16% moisture
• Biomass was pelletized at Remasco in Kingsville, ON and used to heat greenhouses
• Keeping track of all greenhouse gases associated with willow biomass production; no net on-farm carbon emissions
• Leaf litter cycling is efficient method of nutrient cycling
• Challenges: weed control during first year only, no commercially available supply of plant stock, availability of planters and harvesters, need for business model, need for conversion technologies
• Poplar has high establishment costs, but may be good on very marginal land
• To return land to another agricultural rotation, growers (e.g. in Chile) use glyphosate to kill the crop; willows will then decompose over next six to seven years

• Crop residue includes corn stover, corn cobs, soybean stubble, cereal straw
• Comprises only a small portion of total available agricultural biomass in Ontario
• Theoretical volume in millions of tonnes is corn 5.37; soybean 2.12; wheat 2.24; forages 5.16; for a total of 14.9
• Practically and sustainably available volumes are much less
• Concerns over soil compaction, trampling, nutrient cycling, small window for harvesting given the timing of other cropping demands and weather, labour, equipment modifications to pick up residue (new equipment under development), contamination with soil and stones, storage and competing uses
• Corn cobs can easily be captured during harvest
• Break-even price ranges from $58 to $69/tonne
• Competing uses include livestock bedding, mushrooms, vegetable mulch, industrial uses
• Sustainability is based on soil organic matter, soil erosion protection, nutrient replacement, and long term productivity of the land
• Winter wheat has 1.6 times as much biomass below ground as above
• Minimum amount required to financially justify harvest is 500 kg/ha/year
• To increase residue amounts, could increase rotation complexity, add cover crops, or add other organic amendments such as manure, biosolids, compost or biogas digestate
• Research needed on long-term productivity of the land, amount of sustainable removal, true cost, and impact of removal on subsequent crop yields
• See "Assessment of the Availability of Agricultural Biomass for Heat and Energy Production in Ontario" (Hilla Kludze, Bill Deen et al, University of Guelph)

• Large expanses of limestone deposits and clay belts in Northern Ontario
• 4.4 million acres of Canada Land Inventory Classes 2 to 4 soils suitable for cultivation including biomass: 9.3% of Ontario's Class 2 land; 50.4% of Ontario's Class 3 land; 67.8% of Class 4 land
• 2.2 million acres have climate limited soils (i.e. can't grow field tomatoes) which are suitable for canola and forage grasses, and in fact, are even better than Essex County
• Stone free, lacustrine clay belt has fairly well drained soils
• Lake Abitibi area is farmland in Quebec and forest in Ontario; Quebec aggressively pursuing agricultural development, while Ontario is not; this is a policy issue rather than related to soil or climate
• Only 2% of the Great Clay Belt (Cochrane area) is used for agriculture; 80-100 frost-free days; crop heat units 2100 to 2700
• Forages, spring cereals and canola dominate, with silage corn, soybeans and winter wheat on the rise; breeders producing earlier varieties that are well suited to the north
• Working on reed canary grass, switchgrass and straw from spring cereals for biomass
• Switchgrass tends to be very leafy; not getting as much stem as in the south (which is what is required for energy)
• Competing use: mining industry uses straw for reclamation
• Non-food canola could be used for energy; energy content is high at 28 megajoules/kg (compared with wood at 18 MJ/kg and coal at 32 MJ/kg); tested at CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Natural Resources Canada; clean burning