Can Biofuel Crops and Cover Crops Coexist?

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April 6, 2016

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by Lisa Young (AgriNews) Cover crop and row crop biofuels systems can work together. They may have to as the Renewable Fuel Standard spurs increased demand for biofuels while many are calling for more controls on agricultural nutrient runoff. Researchers from Iowa State University, the University of Minnesota and POET shared their experiences with cover crops on biofuel-bound row crops at the Cover Crops: Economic and Environmental Management Production Agriculture Symposium on March 22 at the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.

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When looking at perennial cover crops that could be used with biofuels fields, several suitable traits must be watched for, said Cynthia Bartel, of Iowa State University. Covers that can suppress weeds, green up quickly in spring, are shade tolerant, have good rhizome development and are low-growing are ideal. These traits tend to point the finger toward plants that were once considered junk: species that go dormant and are shallow-rooted such as bluegrass and fescue, Bartel said.

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“Economic concessions are necessary to offset the natural resources benefit the first year,” Bartel said. She suggested that there should be an incentive, whether through the Natural Resource Conservation Service, a carbon market or otherwise.

Residue management

Biofuel maker POET has started its own research into making cover crops work with crops destined for biofuel, including adding two cover crop showcase demonstration plots near its Emmetsburg, Iowa, plant. The company is trying to find the balance, particularly with corn stover, of what can be taken for biofuel and what should be left for environmental sustainability and to support a living cover during the noncash crop season. POET Associate Biomass Research Scientist Alicia El Mamouni shared some of the company’s work and plans.

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University of Minnesota graduate students Matthew Ott and Kevin Anderson talked about the university’s Forever Green initiative, specifically regarding integrating winter annual oilseed crops like pennycress and winter camelina into corn and soybean rotations.

“Our broad goal is to make cash cover crops,” Ott said. READ MORE

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