| Energy
Unlocking the potential of marginal land
Are you interested in the benefits that the low maintenance, highly profitable crop- miscanthus- offers? …. Read our handy beginners’ guide to find out whether it’ s the right diversification option for you …
M iscanthus is a crop that is rapidly growing in popularity with both farmers and landowners. With energy prices continually rising and increased pressures on the UK government to meet carbon reduction targets, there is a need to find plentiful, clean and secure alternatives to fossil fuels. It is here that UK grown biomass sources, such as miscanthus, play a crucial role. Growing miscanthus
Miscanthus is a perennial energy crop that can grow to heights of up to 12 feet and can produce yields of 15 tonnes / ha, with average returns considerably higher than arable crops, at £ 528 / ha, based on an average yield over 15 years.
The crop is grown on over 8,000ha of marginal land in the UK and the area is increasing rapidly. This is due to the rapidly growing demand for heat, as biomass. And because miscanthus is harvested in spring time, it doesn’ t conflict with peaks in arable crop rotations, but it uses the same harvesting machinery, meaning no extra expense for equipment.
A further benefit to growers is that the crop requires little or no inputs, once established.
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This is because the root stock, known as the rhizome, recycles nutrients back into the soil, so no fertiliser application is required.
As miscanthus only has to be planted once, in the spring, is harvested annually between March and April, and goes on for 20 + years, growers consider it a long term, low maintenance investment that provides an assured income well into the future.
Expanding the miscanthus industry at a rapid rate is miscanthus expert Terravesta, a company at the forefront of miscanthus supply chain expertise and research and development. Terravesta works with growers throughout the UK, facilitating planting, providing free agronomic support, securing lucrative markets and offering long term index price linked contracts. Establishment
According to Alex Robinson from Terravesta, the crop virtually looks after itself once it’ s established, but it’ s essential that growers invest time and effort into successful establishment, as this determines the speed to maturity, ground-fill and overall return.
“ Planting takes place in spring time, and weed control is crucial when establishing the crop and it’ s vital that fields are cleared of perennial weeds before planting.
Miscanthus fact box
• Miscanthus is a low input biomass energy crop, requiring little or no fertiliser inputs, and thrives on poor grade, marginal land
• Miscanthus offers significantly higher than average arable returns with an average price of £ 528 / ha based on 15 years
• The crop is currently grown from rhizome( root stock), that’ s planted once, harvested in the spring and has annual yields as high as 15 tonnes / ha for well-established crops, with a potential 10 to 20 plus year life cycle
“ It’ s important to remember that miscanthus requires minimal herbicide inputs once established, as the crop suppresses annual weeds such as blackgrass, because the high canopy of the crop out-competes it,” says Alex.
Alex advises that because a miscanthus crop only needs to be planted once, farmers only have one chance to get it right.“ Miscanthus is a long term commitment with long term returns, so starting off well will deliver the best results,” he adds. The market
The market for miscanthus is always growing and Terravesta is currently working with a number of different end users including whole bale power stations, horse and poultry bedding manufacturers and biomass boiler manufacturers.
Even though the energy production process requires the miscanthus to be burnt, it’ s a carbon positive crop, meaning that there is no net increase of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is because miscanthus plants absorb more carbon during crop production than is released when burnt. Additionally some further carbon is sequestered in the soil from the rhizome and, this helps to diminish the volume of greenhouse gas emitted by the land use sector.
March 2017 | Farming Monthly | 41