Evaluating clover to boost biomass yields

Biomass Magazine
April 2010
Posted April 28, 2010, at 2:17 p.m. CST

A species of clover that doesn’t typically perform well in the dry uplands of the Northern Plains could find its niche by helping producers grow biomass crops for energy in prairie lowlands.

South Dakota State University professor Vance Owens said that’s the point of a grant of just over $800,000 approved through the SDSU-based North Central Sun Grant Center to help scientists carry out research on kura clover. Owens is the principal investigator for the three-year project, which uses U.S. DOE funds.

Owens said he and his colleagues will explore whether growing kura clover along with a high-yielding native grass called prairie cordgrass will supply some or all of the nitrogen needed to get high biomass yields.

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