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New switchgrass is focus of Nebraska field days
A new biomass variety of switchgrass will be the focus of two field days this week in eastern Nebraska.
The new switchgrass is called Liberty switchgrass. According to University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension educator Keith Glewen, it’s the result of nearly two decades of breeding by the USDA-ARS grass breeding program at UNL.
“It looks a little different,” Glewen says. “In fact, it looks a lot different than the forage type of switchgrass varieties that we commonly know about, in that it’s stemmy. It doesn’t have near the number of leaves on it, but it gets very rank and stemmy-looking.”
Glewen says the new switchgrass variety has been producing about eight tons per acre in rainfed conditions in eastern Nebraska.
“For reference purposes, a round bale of this switchgrass equates to a 55-gallon drum of ethanol,” he says.
Development of the new switchgrass is part of a multi-state effort called CenUSA Bioenergy. It’s funded by USDA to create sustainable biofuels systems in the Midwest. Other universities participating in the effort are Iowa State University, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota and University of Vermont.
The Nebraska field days will take place Tuesday near Beaver Crossing and Wednesday at Dawson. For more information, click here.
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