Corn
Nebraska produced 1.3 billion bushels of corn in 2008 averaging 163 bushels per acre with nearly half going to ethanol production Nebraska's 23 Ethanol plants have a capacity of over 1.6 billion gallons per year. A small amount of production comes from grain sorghum.
2009 Map of Ethanol Facilities - Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality - pdf
Ethanol Hybrids
Corn ethanol production utilized close to 500 million bushels of Nebraska corn each year with each bushel producing approximately 2.6 gallons of ethanol. Starch quality and quantity characteristics can change the yield of ethanol per bushel of corn and possibly increase the gallons per acre produced. This is the goal of the ethanol hybrids programs which go by names.
Other Resources
Nebraska Deptartment of Environmental Quality - look for updated maps of ethanol plants in Nebraska
Crop Residues
Crop residues left in the field after grain harvest have a large potential as a bioenergy feedstock. As a byproduct of grain production these residues have been called waste, yet research has shown their nutrient, erosion, and soil carbon characteristics have value that must not be overlooked. Crop residues of interest for bioenergy include; corn stover, corn cobs, wheat straw, soybean straw, and rice hulls.
Harvesting Crop Residues, G1846
Issues of crop residue harvest, including nutrient removal and effects on erosion, soil quality, water loss, and yield are discussed in this NebGuide.
Read this NebGuide. (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Selling Stover May Cost You More Than you Get -Sept 2009
An area farmer told me that he recently received an offer to buy his corn residue for as much as $20 a ton or $60 an acre for a three-ton harvest. For a quarter section, he could receive $9600. At first glance, it looks like he could get paid for what appears to be waste material – crop residue, but let’s think about the value of that residue.
Read this article
Crop and Soil Productivity Response to Corn Residue Removal: A Literature Review
W.W. Wilhelm et. al. 2005 Agronomy Journal
Read this article (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Crop Residue Values, How Much Can I Remove?
Robert Klein, Cropping Systems Specialist UNL
View presentation
Residue No-Till and System Management
Paul Jasa, Extension Engineer, UNL Biosystems Engineering Department
View presentation
Switchgrass is a native to the tall grass prairie of the Midwest and has high potential as perennial bioenergy crop. photo courtesy of Rob Mitchell
Switchgrass
Switchgrass (panicum virgatum) is a perennial native to the tall grass prairies of the Great Plains. Growing in large clumps sometimes as tall 5 to 8 feet switchgrass is widely adapted and is grown in research plots from the southeast U.S. up to Canada.
Net energy of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass
Switchgrass is being evaluated as a potential bioenergy crop for conversion into ethanol. Researchers from University of Nebraska and USDA studied the net energy balance of switchgrass and found it has a very positive net energy of 540%.
Read the study by Schmer, Vogel, Mitchell, and Perrin (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Farm-Scale Production Cost of Switchgrass for Biomass
Production costs are an important part of the equation when it comes to the future of cellulosic biofuels. Researchers in the Agricultural Economics Department at UNL looked at the production costs of switchgrass. Results showed that farming experience did help where producers who were experienced in growing switchgrass had lower production costs than producers who had not grown the crop before.
Read the study by Perrin, Vogel, Schmer, and Mitchell (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Switchgrass, Big Bluestem, and Indiangrass for Grazing and Hay, G1908
The grazing management and cultural practices discussed in this NebGuide can make the tall warm-season grasses switchgrass, big bluestem, and indiangrass high quality summer forage.
Read this Nebguide. (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Other Resources:
Management Guide for the Production of Switchgrass for Biomass Fuel in Southern Iowa - link to pdf
Switchgrass Production in Ontario: A Management Guide - link to pdf
Growing and Harvesting Switchgrass for Ethanol Production in Tennessee - link to pdf
Switchgrass Production Information - Clemson University
Management Guide for Biomass Feedstock Production from Switchgrass in the Northern Great Plains - South Dakota State University - link to pdf
Sweet Sorghum
Sweet sorghum is a relative to other common sorghums grown in Nebraska grain sorghum and forage sorghum. Yet instead of harvested for grain or its forage, sweet sorghum is harvested for its sugar content in the stems. The sugar can be directly fermented in ethanol like sugar cane ethanol. This direct squeeze to fermentation provides a benefit in cost as no cook process or costly enzymes needed like in corn ethanol production.
"Sweet Harvest" article, originally appeared in Ethanol Producer Magazine July 2008 (pdf)
(pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Canola
Canola's high quality oil and high percentage oil approximately 40% in the seed makes it a very desirable biodiesel feedstock. Produced throughout Europe and Canada canola can be grown in Western Nebraska.
Alternative Crop Budgets and Decision Making, EC838
Provides typical variable and fixed costs to help producers estimate total costs and develop a budget for alternative crop production.
Read the NebGuide. (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Growing Crops for Better Biodiesel
by Loren Isom and Bill Booker
Loren is with the Industrial Ag Products Center at UNL
Bill is an Extension educator in Box Butte County
Identifying high oil yield, low water use crops suitable for biodiesel production is a key component of addressing feedstock availability that will support the development of biodiesel production facilities in Nebraska. Expanded oilseed production can develop new economic opportunities for agricultural producers and suppliers in Nebraska.
Read this article. (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Sunflower
Sunflower production is relatively well established as an oilseed crop in the broader region of the Great Plains. For the most Nebraska producers the distance for delivery has limited production. Current plans for additional oilseed processing facilities in Nebraska could greatly reduce transportation costs for a large production area in Nebraska. The state of Nebraska only harvested 31,000 acres of oil type sunflowers in 2006 with an average yield of 1,200 pounds.3 Sunflowers have a typical oil content of 40%, but it will vary based on production conditions. Typical dry land yields will range from 800 to 1,500 pounds per acre, while irrigated yields are often targeted above 3,000 pounds per acre. The national average yield for oil type sunflowers is 1,267 pounds per acre. At 40% oil content, that is approximately 507 pounds of oil per acre available in the seeds. This is reduced to 431 pounds of extractable oil per acre with mechanical extraction. by Bill Booker Extension Educator Box Butte County NE
Sunflower Head Moth Management, G1626
Commercial sunflowers in and around Nebraska can be severely damaged by sunflower head moth. Pest monitoring is important to control the damage.
Read this NebGuide. (pdf document, download Acrobat Reader)
Nebraska Crop Budgets, 2009, EC872
Track revenue and costs for 42 cropping systems using the 2009 Nebraska crop budget and energy conversion worksheets.
Read this EC
