Study points to gap in end market for biomass

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

by MATT MCINTOSH

A recently concluded project on the production of biomass highlights the need for the development of high value product markets for these crops.

Started by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association in 2010, the Field Scale Agricultural Biomass Research and Development Project provided financial and agronomic assistance to 28 different farmers to help them cultivate the grasses miscanthus, switchgrass, and tall-grass prairie. All three are perennial crops that can be used for high value bioenergy, biomaterial, and biochemical products like plastics and fuels. The idea behind the project was to study the crop, and sell the end product to high-value markets.

The project is part of the “Agricultural Biomass Value Chain Sectors” program, an Ontario Federation of Agriculture initiative designed to develop Ontario’s biomass sector.

In a recent interview, Heather Engbers, the project’s lead field coordinator, says that some of the participating producers “didn’t find it easy to move product to the market.”
 
“They were able to sell the crop, it just didn’t go to the higher value bioenergy, biochemical, and biomaterial markets, which is what we want to reach eventually.”

Instead, Engbers says the market for biomass crops currently lies in things like straw replacer and mushroom compost. However, she speculates that it might have been even more difficult for the producers to sell their crop had there not been a relative straw shortage in the previous year.

Don Nott, a participant from Clinton Ontario, says he had no trouble selling his switchgrass despite the lack of high value markets.

“We sold the grass as straw replacer and for mushrooms, and had very little trouble moving it,” says Nott. “We’ve been growing it for eight years now and we see it as one of the more stable crops in terms of income.”

Aside from market differences, the project also highlighted the agronomic abilities of producers.

OSCIA researchers compiled data throughout the growing season on things like establishment rate, yield, and moisture levels, and anything else that may have affected the success of each farmer’s crop. According to Engbers, the growers were able to work out most agronomic issues, despite the fact that some had little experience with grass biomass crops.

“At the end of the year we looked at all the issues that influenced the farmers’ success,” says Engbers. “Some of the switchgrass crops yielded a little lower than expected, but overall we were satisfied.”

Engbers says the project’s official report will hopefully be released by the end of the year.

Funding for the project was provided by the Agricultural Adaptation Council through the Agricultural Adaptation program.

Some of the project’s results were shared at a bioeconomy research highlights session held last month in Guelph.

The day-long event organized by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food featured eight researchers in total discussing projects in three major categories: biomaterials, like bioplastics, bioenergy, which includes biodiesel and biogas, and biochemicals.

There was also a poster competition where 23 graduate students gave one-minute pitches on bioeconomy research projects, as well as other displays from organizations like the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, and the Guelph Bio-Renewable Innovation Lab.

“The emerging bioeconomy has the potential to positively impact the agricultural and food processing industries, as well as the forestry sector and northern communities,” notes Susan Murray, a ministry spokesperson. BF