North Carolina’s Growing Strengths: The Perennial Grass Grower Assistance Program
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Perennial Grass Grower Assistance program was established in 2011 by N.C. State University with funding by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to support the expansion of biomass acreage for biofuels production in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The program provides direct assistance to farmers and landowners by providing minimal cost to access equipment, crop materials, and labor to support the establishment of perennial biomass. Biomass types that can be established under this program are Switchgrass and Giant Miscanthus. Each grass should provide a 10-year minimum of biomass production following establishment with yields of more than seven dry tons per acre annually.
The impetus for this program is that the cost of establishing perennial grasses is the most expensive aspect of biomass production. READ MORE
