More market analysis required for corn stover marketing

porknetwork.com
Stu Ellis, Farmgate Updated: December 5, 2011

Many Cornbelt farmers are planning to deliver corn stover to the local ethanol plant to generate a new income stream. Others are planning to cultivate and harvest switchgrass, miscanthus, or other biomass crops also for ethanol production. Yet others are investing in other on-farm forms of energy production, such as manure or algae, to deliver to biodiesel producers. While they all have visions of dollar signs, they may also want to make plans to further their education and obtain a graduate degree in global energy market economics.

Some months back the flashpoint to ethanol policy was “indirect land use impact” as it pertained to expansion of soybean acreage into the Amazon rain forest when corn was delivered to a US ethanol plant. While that issue may be long from being resolved, the biofuels industry, whether it is fed by US corn, Brazilian sugarcane, or Malaysian palm oil will have a global impact on many resources. Those could include soil erosion, nutrient loss, air quality degradation, and many others say a panel of researchers which involved economists, scientists, policy makers, and others looking at the impact of biomass feedstock markets on energy, agriculture, and farmers.

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