Climate Smart Switchgrass Cropping System
The Climate Smart Switchgrass Cropping System (CSSGCS) is a partnership between FDC Enterprises, Inc., the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), and innovative skilled businesses including Starktech.
The project goals are to provide Iowa producers an alternative income opportunity by integrating native plant biomass on their property while also providing vital natural resource solutions to southern Iowa.
Partners
The project team has over 20 years’ experience working together in both the research aspects and commercial production of switchgrass as a biomass crop.
FDC Enterprises is an agriculture production company with over two decades of experience developing switchgrass biomass cropping systems, biomass equipment research and development and has consulted with many key leaders in the biomass industry over that time. FDCE is the nation’s leader of switchgrass establishment and harvesting innovations. They have been part of several innovative DOE research grant opportunities and have planted over 400,000 acres of native grass since 2003. View client testimonial.
Developing biomass feedstock supply chains and supporting development of local biomass projects are core practices for Antares Group, a renewable energy company owned by Stark Tech. Since its founding in 1993, Antares has worked with public and private sector clients to improve the productivity, economics and environmental performance of the production of switchgrass and other bioenergy feedstocks. Antares has built a portfolio of experience through “lessons learned” from the Chariton Valley Biomass Project nearly three decades ago and more recently as a key partner in U.S. Department of Energy funded, stakeholder led biomass research and development projects.
Prairie Lands Bio-Products Inc is a grower group with experience in member engagement for production contracts and owns a biomass processing facility near Ottumwa, IA. Prairie Land’s growers/farmers have successfully operated that processing facility and recognized the value of growing perennial switchgrass production systems that can reduce soil erosion, improve soil health water and holding capacity and reduce emissions into the atmosphere.
Sponsors
The project team is grateful for funding and support from the following:
Timeline
Since 2003, FDCE has managed over 20 Federally funded conservation and bioenergy projects. Responsibilities ranged from overall project management, implementation at the local level and quantifying and reporting social, economic and environmental outcomes.
Chariton Valley Biomass Project successfully completes a co-fire campaign at the Ottumwa Electric Generating Station led by Prairie Lands Bio-Products, a farmer organized entity. The farmer/growers had successfully raised and stored 25,000 tons of switchgrass, planned the logistics and operated the biomass processing facility which they now own today.
Prairie Lands members and Antares have used the lessons learned from this 10-year project to shape the “Iowa Climate Smart Switchgrass Cropping System Transition” strategies to finance and build a feedstock supply, optimize a supply chain, process the material efficiently, and market switchgrass products.
The Chariton Valley Biomass Project — a DOE funded project — was part of the “Biomass Power for Rural America Initiative” within DOE.
FDCE entered the switchgrass establishment space in 2003 using first generation drills, built on top of original manufacturer specs. It was clear to FDCE that native grass establishment innovation was needed for production level establishment and results.
In 2005 with production and results beyond wildlife habitat in mind, FDCE engineered and built state of the art native grass no-till drills to address the needs of production agriculture systems for the native grass industry.
2006-Ongoing
Due to innovation and switchgrass establishment success, Virginia Tech and Conservation Management Institute asked FDCE for help in converting the feedstock for Piedmont Geriatric Hospital’s (PGH) biomass boiler to native switchgrass. Prior to this effort, PGH relied primarily on sawdust as their boiler feedstock. While the sawdust was sourced from local mills, as much as half of it was made up of water, significantly hindering efficiency and increasing costs.
By comparison, switchgrass feedstock averages less than 15% water. During a 44-day run of exclusively burning switchgrass, the hospital saved almost $44,000 compared to burning sawdust. A year later, they saved nearly $100,000 during a 50-day run. Now burning switchgrass biomass year-round, the hospital saves anywhere from $1,800-$2,200 per day on fuel costs. Learn more.
FDCE continued to innovate and created its third generation planters, deployed in 2008.
2010-2015 Design and Demonstration of an Advanced Agricultural Feedstock Supply System for Lignocellulosic Bioenergy Production
FDCE was project lead and performed corn stover, switchgrass, and miscanthus harvest in five states. This project was scored as one of the two highest rated projects within the US DOE feedstock supply and logistics program through an independent expert peer review. Contributing partner ANTARES also assisted with project management, deliverable completion, and compliance reporting.
Learn more about the Feedstock Supply System. [PDF]
2013-2017
FDCE successfully led a DOE effort to “Demonstration of an Advanced Supply Chain for Lower Cost, Higher Quality Biomass Feedstock Delivery.” The project team coined the project “Biomass Alliance for Logistics Efficiency and Specifications” — BALES for short.
Antares and other team members designed and tested robust harvesting/ semi-trailer designs and tested a near-infrared (NIR) probe to gather the moisture, ash, glucan and xylan content of a corn stover bale successfully.
Learn more about the BALES process.
2014-16 Conservation Innovation Grant – Integrating Pollinators into Bioenergy Crops
FDCE established approximately 2,000 acres of switchgrass and associated pollinator field borders in Southside Virginia. FDCE was also responsible for landowner recruitment, outreach, communication and environmental, social and economic outcomes.
2015-2022 Enabling Sustainable Landscape Design for Continual Improvement of Operating Bioenergy Supply Systems
Completed 2018. Awarded to ANTARES with FDCE serving as lead for producer recruitment and production logistics. The project’s multi-stage, stakeholder outreach plan leveraged several existing federal, state, and local conservation programs with a transformative approach based on producer profitability for integrating switchgrass into landscape cover and the bioenergy supply mix.
The team used precision ag tools to identify acres in greatest need of conservation, conducted outreach and recruitment efforts and established approximately 3,000 acres of switchgrass.
2015-2022 Enabling Sustainable Landscape Design for Continual Improvement of Operating Bioenergy Supply Systems
The project team conducted assessments of the efficacy of on-farm catchment strategies on private sector farms and research farms in Kansas and Colorado, developed and tested new conservation practices for management of corn stover and established a saturated buffer network on farms in the Southfork watershed in Iowa.
2021
Developed a stakeholder-led, web-based certification system and verification system for the sustainable production of biomass in the United States. It is based on a voluntary sustainability standard that was developed by the Council on Sustainable Biomass Production. The BMAS addresses the full complement of sustainability issues including land use, water use, climate change, biodiversity and socioeconomic impacts.
2022-Present Regional Conservation Partnership Program AFA #2810
As of this writing, FDCE is executing this project, the Iowa Climate Smart Switchgrass Cropping System. A major project objective is transitioning 5,000 acres of marginal cropland, expiring CRP, hay land and pasture land to switchgrass. Significant progress has been made toward this overall objective while enhancing water quality, soil carbon and reducing GHG emissions.
FDCE is currently harvesting switchgrass to support developing markets for locally produced biochar and erosion control filter socks and other engineered erosion control products.
FDC Enterprises has been planting native grasses since 2003. During that time, we have planted over 400,000 acres of native grasses across 26 states. The chart above illustrates only our last 9 years of activity.
2024-2028
FDCE and its team partners received RCPP award from NRCS for their innovative plan to improve water quality and reduce soil erosion while improving landowner net incomes. The goal is to convert 5,000 acres of marginal cropland, expiring CRP, hay land and pasture land to switchgrass.