Midwestern Management of Biomass for Energy, Soil and Water Conservation and Soil Health

Douglas L. Karlen, Larry Beeler, and Bruce E. DaleUSDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS, and Michigan State University

Presented at the 15th SWCS/SSSA Joint Symposium SWCS Annual Meeting – Lombard, Illinois

July 29, 2014

Midwest biomass: the past, present and future

Lessons learned regarding sustainable corn stover harvest

NRCS guidelines and programs available to biomass suppliers

Critical soil and water research needed for sustainable biomass supplies

Presentation Overview

Biomass is Not a New Midwestern Commodity

Native Americans Managed Prairie for Bison Grazing

From H.F. Reetz

Midwest Landscape -- 2014

Corn and soybean are dominant crops because of soil resources, climate and infra-structure

Production of these crops has been successful but ecosystem services have been disrupted

Growing demand for biomass for biofuel and/or bio-products creates opportunities to optimize cropping systems

Integrating food, feed and fuel production could improve productivity and ecosystem services

The Midwest – Current Status

Midwest Regional Roadmap www.swcs.org/roadmap)

Renewable energy is essential for human well-being

The rate of energy use (rate of doing work) strongly affects, even determines, national wealth and opportunities for human development

All rich societies use a lot of energy (~33% oil)

“Energy efficiency” is essential but insufficient in itself

Fossil energy use makes us rich today—what energy sources will make our children rich? Answer: fossil energy cannot, it will be gone in the next few decades….

Why renewable energy is crucial

Without it, how will the billions of poor people in the world ever access enough fossil energy to develop their potential? Answer: they cannot, it will be gone in the next few decades…

Globally, we must have renewable energy — lots of it in the next few decades

Why? Because of all forms of energy, liquid fuels are the most valuable and most problematic in terms of supply, price and price volatility

Why renewable energy is crucial

Although controversial, peak oil quite likely has already arrived

Only large scale, low cost, low carbon energy sources can reduce GHGs, provide energy security and long term wealth

Biofuels (liquid fuels from plant material) are not optional — we must have them — but they must also become much more sustainable

Corn stover

Miscanthus/Switchgrass

Oilseeds

Woody species

Midwest Biomass Resources

Midwest Regional Roadmap (www.swcs.org/roadmap)

Canola,PennycressCamelina

US-EPA and others identified corn stover as the most economical feedstock because of:

The extensive area on which corn is grown (planted on an average of 97,272,000 acres in 2011 – 2013)

The relatively high crop productivity (an average of 11.9 billion bushels of grain for those years)

Potential average stover production of 282 million tons per year based on a 0.5 harvest index

The potential to reduce crop residue management costs by harvesting a portion of the stover

BUT – stover is also important for soil health!

2013 winter erosion in Story County, Iowa

2013 corn production site in Green County, Wisconsin

Excessive Stover Harvest Can Result in:

Compaction & crusting

Degraded structure & aggregation

Water & wind erosion

Reduced plant growth

Impaired soil biology

Decreased yield

Reduced Soil Productivity

REAP/Regional Partnership Sites

Compiled 239 site-years of stover harvest dataEffects on subsequent grain and stover yieldsEffects on soil organic carbon (C) & aggregationEffects on microbial communityEffects on GHG emissions

Summarized in: BioEnergy Research, Vol. 2, 2014

Developed the Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) and other tools to:Estimate available residueQuantify economicsEnsure ecosystem service benefits are sustained

What Was Accomplished?

This involved ARS, DOE, university, and private industry partners

Utilized Multiple Harvest Technologies

University Park

Lincoln

Ames, Morris & St. Paul Florence Industry Collaborators

What Was Learned? Corn grain yields ranged from 5.0 to 14.3 Mg ha-1 (80

to 227 bu/acre)

Average grain yield response to stover harvest was minimal: 9.8, 10.1, and 10.1 Mg ha-1 (156, 160, and 160 bu/acre) for: No, moderate (3.9 Mg ha-1 or 1.7 tons/acre), or high removal

(7.2 Mg ha-1 or 3.2 tons/acre)

Sustainable stover harvest rates are site specific –averages are meaningless

Appropriate residue harvest may encourage Midwest producers to adopt no-till corn production practices

Other Lessons – Including Soil Health Compared to harvesting only grain – N, P, and K removal

are increased by at least 16, 2, and 18 kg Mg-1 of stover Minimum residue return projections for 35 studies were

6.38 ± 2.19 Mg stover ha-1 yr-1

For grain yields ≤ 11 Mg ha-1 (175 bu ac-1), ten years of stover harvest, even with no-tillage, resulted in reduced POM (particulate organic matter) accumulation

Low corn yields shifted the dry aggregate distribution toward smaller soil aggregates

Insufficient yields resulted in undesirable shifts in the microbial community

Overall, sustainable supplies of corn stover may be lower than initially projected because of weather-induced yield variability

Strategies to Ensure Sustainability

Encourage the entire biomass industry to understand the economic driver – limiting factor model

Strategies Continued Seek large, complementary, and beneficial changes:

we need food (feed) and fuel and sustainability andrural economic development and better social outcomes Living mulches Oilseeds

Double Cropping Growing cover crops (rye, triticale, brassicas) during the winter &

early spring on “dedicated” corn or soybean land: Does NOT require new land Increases sustainable corn stover harvest rate Provides addition biomass for biofuels, animal feed, etc Reframes the “food vs. fuel” debate

Holt, MI: May 5, 2005

Strategies Continued Continue to develop management tools such as the

Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) and self-regulating strategies to ensure sustainability

Re-diversify the Midwestern Landscape

Re-Diversification Requires the Right Question

We are asking: Can we impose a very large new demand for biofuels on the existing agricultural system without creating soil, water, or other problems?

We should be asking: Can we redesign U.S. agriculture to produce biofuels, food/feed, and environmental services? Would you enter the Indy 500 race driving a golf cart? Would you use a toothbrush to sweep the floor? Agriculture has changed before; it can change again Examine actual land uses: most land is used for animal feed

Therefore: co-produce animal feeds with biofuels and/or make much better use of pasture land

An Alfalfa Paradigm Shift

Goal – diversify landscape, provide feedstock,improve soil health, & protect water quality

Alfalfa Leaf Protein Collection & Extraction

Create market-pull for perennials by starting with a familiar crop

NRCS & FSA Biomass Perspectives

Energy crops include: Woody species – cottonwood, hybrid poplas, silver maple,

black locust, sweetgum, eucalyptus, sycamore and willow

Hebaceous perennials – switchgrass, bluestem, reed canarygrass, wheatgrass, miscanthus

Residues from annual crops – corn, sorghum and soybean

Biomass crops should be grown in ways that ensure environmental and economic sustainability, with minimal or no adverse effects on natural ecosystems, biodiversity and with minimal reliance on any single crop

NRCS & FSA Biomass Production Programs

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP)

Establishment payments for 50% of the costs for establishing a new, perennial energy crop

Maintenance payments until the crop matures (up to: 5 years for herbaceous crops, 15 years for woody crops)

Retrieval payments (matching) for mitigating the cost of harvesting and transporting agricultural and forestry residues to the end-use facility

Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) Perspectives

Bioenergy made from sustainably harvested cover crops has the potential to build the country’s renewable energy portfolio while conserving resources and increasing farmers’ income.

Creation of local biomass markets and greater access to incentives could significantly increase adoption rates for cover crops

Biomass potential and Trade-Offs Cover crops producing 2 to 5 tons/acre could provide 44 to 110

million tons of biomass per year if 10% of the nation’s 220 million acres were planted and harvested

If incentives resulted in 30% adoption of cover crops, this feedstock could provide 10 to 36 billion gallons of ethanol.

The primary concern regarding cover crops is their potential negative effects on the yield of subsequent primary crops.

Research Needs Effective and efficient strategies for incorporating cover

crops in stover harvest systems No-tillage technologies that incorporate site-specific,

variable-rate seeding Innovative harvest methods and new uses for perennial

crops Improved herbaceous and woody biomass cultivars with

higher yield potential & better biofuel/bio-product characteristics

Quantify habitat impact of harvesting biomass Quantify runoff, nutrient, and pesticide losses associated

with biomass harvest Develop options and practices that enhance the value of

marginal lands

Summary & ConclusionsRenewable energy is essential for human well-being

Biofuels (liquid fuels from plant material) are not optional — we must have them — but they must be truly sustainable – economically, environmentally, & socially

Finally, borrowing from the Wizard of Oz – “If we only had a brain” we conclude that any perceived food vs. fuel conflict can be solved without having a negative impact on soil, water, or air resources by simply using our heads!

Developing Sustainable Stover Harvest Strategies is Just a First Step Toward Solving Multiple Energy and Ecosystem Challenges

Any Questions?