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Economically Optimum Production of Both the Agricultural Biomass Feedstock and the Crop
Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org
Citation: Paper number 036079, 2003 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.15401)Authors: Reed L. Hoskinson, Raymond K. Fink, Randy D. Lee, Kevin L. Kenney, Larry G. Blackwood, Ronald C. Rope
Keywords: Wheat, straw, variable-rate fertilization, crop residue, bioenergy, economic optimum
The Report of the National Energy Policy Development Group to President George W.
Bush, titled the National Energy Policy, recognized renewable and alternative energy sectors as
among the fastest growing in the United States, and identified biomass as one source for renewable
energy.
Agricultural crop residues are a significant renewable biomass resource from which to produce not
only energy but also biobased products. In 2001, American farmers harvested 68.8 million acres of
corn for grain, 48.7 million acres of wheat, and 4.3 million acres of barley. The available crop
residues from these acreages represent a significant amount of available and renewable biomass.
But for many years, research in support of crop production methodologies has been aimed at
producing the best economic return to the farmer for the grain. In most cases, the crop residue
production was either ignored, or the secondary objective of the research was to reduce the residue
produced. Corn stalks have become shorter and thinner. Wheat stems have shortened.
Now, in support of our national policies, interest in using crop residues as a biomass feedstock has
risen. With this growing interest in crop residues, economically optimum simultaneous production of
both the grain and the crop residue becomes of significant interest.
In our paper we discuss new strategies for grain production involving optimum variable-rate
fertilization of the crop for the simultaneous production of both the grain and the crop residue
biomass. This ongoing research involved a full-field test in 2002 in which the goal was economically
optimized simultaneous production of wheat and straw using site-specific variable-rate fertilization.
Results from the 2002 harvest suggest some improvement over using traditional uniform fertilization,
but economically efficient biomass production was not accomplished. Ongoing field tests are being
conducted in 2003 using information gained in the 2002 field tests.