Agriculture Commons^™

Perennializing Marginal Croplands: Going Back To The Future To Mitigate Climate Change With Resilient Biobased Feedstocks, Salvador Ramirez Ii, Marty R. Schmer, Virginia L. Jin, Robert B. Mitchell, Catherine E. Stewart, Jay Parsons, Daren D. Redfearn, John J. Quinn, Gary E. Varvel, Kenneth P. Vogel, Ronald F. Follett

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Managing annual row crops on marginally productive croplands can be environmentally unsustainable and result in variable economic returns. Incorporating perennial bioenergy feedstocks into marginally productive cropland can engender ecosystem services and enhance climate resiliency while also diversifying farm incomes. We use one of the oldest bioenergy-specific field experiments in North America to evaluate economically and environmentally sustainable management practices for growing perennial grasses on marginal cropland. This long-term field trial called 9804 was established in 1998 in eastern Nebraska and compared the productivity and sustainability of corn (Zea mays L.)—both corn grain and corn stover—and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum …

Genetic Markers And Tree Properties Predicting Wood Biorefining Potential In Aspen (Populus Tremula) Bioenergy Feedstock, Sacha Escamez, Kathryn M. Robinson, Mikko Luomaranta, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Niklas Mähler, Zakiya Yassin, Thomas Grahn, Gerhard Scheepers, Lars-Göran Stener, Stefan Jansson, Leif J. Jönsson, Nathaniel R. Street, Hannele Tuominen

Aspen Bibliography

Background Wood represents the majority of the biomass on land and constitutes a renewable source of biofuels and other bioproducts. However, wood is recalcitrant to bioconversion, raising a need for feedstock improvement in production of, for instance, biofuels. We investigated the properties of wood that affect bioconversion, as well as the underlying genetics, to help identify superior tree feedstocks for biorefining.

Results We recorded 65 wood-related and growth traits in a population of 113 natural aspen genotypes from Sweden (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hrd). These traits included three growth and field performance traits, 20 traits for wood chemical composition, 17 traits for wood anatomy …

Biomass Production Of Herbaceous Energy Crops In The United States: Field Trial Results And Yield Potential Maps From The Multiyear Regional Feedstock Partnership, Dokyoung Lee, Ezra Aberle, Eric K. Anderson, William Anderson, Brian S. Baldwin, David D. Baltensperger, Michael Barrett, Jurg Blumenthal, Stacy Bonos, Joe Bouton, David I. Bransby, Charlie Brummer, Pane S. Burks, Chengci Chen, Christopher Daly, Jose Egenolf, Rodney L. Farris, John H. Fike, Roch E. Gaussoin, John R. Gill, Kenneth Gravois, Michael D. Halbleib, Anna Hale, Wayne Hanna, Keith Harmoney, Emily A. Heaton, Ron W. Heiniger, Lindsey Hoffman, Chang O. Hong, Gopal Kakani, Robert Kallenbach, Bisoondat Macoon, James C. Medley, Ali Missaoui, Robert B. Mitchell, Ken J. Moore, Jesse I. Morrison, Gary N. Odvody, Jonathan D. Richwine, Richard Ogoshi, Jimmy Ray Parrish, Lauren Quinn, Ed Richard, William L. Rooney, J. Brett Rushing, Ronnie Schnell, Matt Sousek, Scott A. Staggenborg, Thomas Tew, Goro Uehara, Donald R. Viands, Thomas Voigt, David Williams, Linda Williams, Lloyd Ted Wilson, Andrew Wycislo, Yubin Yang, Vance Owens

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Current knowledge of yield potential and best agronomic management practices for perennial bioenergy grasses is primarily derived from small-scale and short-term studies, yet these studies inform policy at the national scale. In an effort to learn more about how bioenergy grasses perform across multiple locations and years, the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE)/Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership was initiated in 2008. The objectives of the Feedstock Partnership were to (1) provide a wide range of information for feedstock selection (species choice) and management practice options for a variety of regions and (2) develop national maps of potential feedstock …

Crop Residue Harvest Impacts Wind Erodibility And Simulated Soil Loss In The Central Great Plains, Yuxin He, Deann R. Presley, John Tatarko, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crop residue removal can affect the susceptibility to soil wind erosion in climates such as those of the Central Great Plains, United States. Six on-farm trials were conducted in Kansas from 2011 to 2013 to determine the effects of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), residue removal at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of initial height on soil wind erosion parameters. Those parameters include soil surface random roughness (RR), and wind erodible fraction (EF; aggregates -¹ for three hours. Threshold wind velocity required to initiate …

Accuracy Of Genomic Prediction In Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum L.) Improved By Accounting For Linkage Disequilibrium, Guillaume P. Ramstein, Joseph Evans, Shawn M. Kaeppler, Robert B. Mitchell, Kenneth P. Vogel, C. Robin Buell, Michael D. Casler

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Switchgrass is a relatively high-yielding and environmentally sustainable biomass crop, but further genetic gains in biomass yield must be achieved to make it an economically viable bioenergy feedstock. Genomic selection (GS) is an attractive technology to generate rapid genetic gains in switchgrass, and meet the goals of a substantial displacement of petroleum use with biofuels in the near future. In this study, we empirically assessed prediction procedures for genomic selection in two different populations, consisting of 137 and 110 half-sib families of switchgrass, tested in two locations in the United States for three agronomic traits: dry matter yield, plant height, …

Root Biomass And Soil Carbon Response To Growing Perennial Grasses For Bioenergy, Leonard C. Kibet, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Robert B. Mitchell, Walter H. Schacht

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Dedicated bioenergy crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), miscanthus [Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg)], indiangrass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash], and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) can provide cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production while maintaining or improving soil and environmental quality. To better understand bioenergy crop effects on soils, we studied changes in soil properties of a Tomek silt loam under inorganic fertilization of switchgrass after 4 years and warm-season grass monocultures and mixtures after 6 years in eastern Nebraska.

Methods: The first experiment had two study factors: two switchgrass harvest dates (August and …

Overexpression Of Sbmyb60 Impacts Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis And Alters Secondary Cell Wall Composition In Sorghum Bicolor, Erin D. Scully, Tammy Gries, Gautam Sarath, Nathan A. Palmer, Lisa Baird, Michelle J. Serapiglia, Bruce S. Dien, Akwasi A. Boateng, Zhengxiang Ge, Deanna L. Funnell-Harris, Paul Twigg, Thomas E. Clemente, Scott E. Sattler

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway that generates lignin subunits represents a significant target for altering the abundance and composition of lignin. The global regulators of phenylpropanoid metabolism may include MYB transcription factors, whose expression levels have been correlated with changes in secondary cell wall composition and the levels of several other aromatic compounds, including anthocyanins and flavonoids. While transcription factors correlated with downregulation of the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway have been identified in several grass species, few transcription factors linked to activation of this pathway have been identified in C4 grasses, some of which are being developed as dedicated bioenergy feedstocks. In …

Characterization Of Novel Sorghum Brown Midrib Mutants From An Ems-Mutagenized Population, Scott E. Sattler, Ana Saballos, Zhanguo Xin, Deanna L. Funnell-Harris, Wilfred Vermerris, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Reducing lignin concentration in lignocellulosic biomass can increase forage digestibility for

ruminant livestock and saccharification yields of biomass for bioenergy. In sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and several other C4 grasses, brown midrib (bmr) mutants have been shown to reduce lignin concentration. Putative bmr mutants isolated from an EMS-mutagenized population were characterized and classified based on their leaf midrib phenotype and allelism tests with the previously described sorghum bmr mutants bmr2, bmr6, and bmr12. These tests resulted in the identification of additional alleles of bmr2, bmr6, and bmr12, and, in addition, six bmr …

Multilocation Corn Stover Harvest Effects On Crop Yields And Nutrient Removal, Douglas L. Karlen, Stuart J. Birrell, Jane M.F. Johnson, Shannon L. Osborne, Thomas E. Schumacher, Gary E. Varvel, Richard B. Ferguson, Jeff M. Novak, James R. Frederick, John M. Baker, John A. Lamb, Paul R. Alder, Greg W. Roth, Emerson D. Nafziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover was identified as an important feedstock for cellulosic bioenergy production because of the extensive area upon which the crop is already grown. This report summarizes 239 site-years of field research examining effects of zero, moderate, and high stover removal rates at 36 sites in seven different states. Grain and stover yields from all sites as well as N, P, and K removal from 28 sites are summarized for nine longitude and six latitude bands, two tillage practices (conventional vs no tillage), two stoverharvest methods (machine vs calculated), and two crop rotations {continuous corn (maize) …

Global Changes In Mineral Transporters In Tetraploid Switchgrasses (Panicum Virgatum L.), Nathan A. Palmer, Aaron J. Saathoff, Brian M. Waters, Teresa Donze, Tiffany M. Heng-Moss, Paul Twigg, Christian M. Tobias, Gautam Sarath

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L) is a perennial, C4 grass with great potential as a biofuel crop. An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that control mineral uptake, distribution, and remobilization will benefit sustainable production. Nutrients are mobilized from aerial portions to below-ground crowns and rhizomes as a natural accompaniment to above-ground senescence post seed-set. Mineral uptake and remobilization is dependent on transporters, however, little if any information is available about the specific transporters that are needed and how their relative expression changes over a growing season.Using well-defined classes of mineral transporters, we identified 520 genes belonging to 40 different transporter …

Miscanthus 3 Giganteus Productivity: The Effects Of Management In Different Environments, Matt Maughan, German Bollero, D.K. Lee, Robert Darmody, Stacy Bonos, Laura Cortese, James Murphy, Roch E. Gaussoin, Matthew Sousek, David Williams, Linda Williams, Fernando Miguez, Thomas Voigt

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Miscanthus 9 giganteus is a C4 perennial grass that shows great potential as a high-yielding biomass crop. Scant research has been published that reports M. 9 giganteus growth and biomass yields in different environments in the United States. This study investigated the establishment success, plant growth, and dry biomass yield of M. 9 giganteus during its first three seasons at four locations (Urbana, IL; Lexington, KY; Mead, NE; Adelphia, NJ) in the United States. Three nitrogen rates (0, 60, and 120 kg ha -1) were applied at each location each year. Good survival of M. 9 giganteus during its first …

Corn Stover Availability And Collection Efficiency Using Typical Hay Equipment, Robert M. Prewitt, Michael D. Montross, Scott A. Shearer, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Stephen F. Higgins, Samuel G. Mcneill, Shahab Sokhansanj

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Corn stover has been identified as a potential feedstock for the production of fermentable sugars and thermochemical processes. The availability and efficiency of typical hay equipment for collecting corn stover has not been well quantified. Corn stover was collected for two years on a central Kentucky farm near Louisville. Six different harvesting treatments, using traditional hay equipment, were used to harvest corn stover. A rotary mower, rotary scythe (flail-type mower with windrow-forming shields), parallel bar rake, and a round baler were utilized. The average stover moisture content prior to grain harvest was above 40%, and field drying was required before …