Biomass yield to nitrogen response functions were determined for four perennial grass species. The species, nitrogen level, and harvest frequency that maximize expected net returns given the climate and soils of the U.S. Southern Plains were determined. For most combinations of biomass and...

Extending switchgrass harvest over many months would require a smaller investment in harvest machines, but would result in a lower average harvestable yield per acre and would require more nitrogen fertilizer, less land for storage, and more land for growing switchgrass. A model was constructed...

The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates the production of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels by 2022. Desirable feedstock properties, biomass to biofuel conversion rate, and investment required in plant and equipment differs depending on which of several competing...

Energy beets (Beta vulgaris L.) meet the requirements for advanced biofuel feedstocks under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. A mixed-integer programming model was constructed to determine the breakeven price of ethanol from energy beets, and to determine the optimal size and...

Historically, the vast majority of cropland in the western Great Plains was either seeded to continuous monoculture wheat or was in a wheat-fallow rotation. The objective of this paper is to determine the combined effects of crop diversity and tillage systems on wheat grain yield and net returns...

In some cultures inheritance customs results in land fragmentation such that over time operating farms become composed of a collection of spatially dispersed fields rather than a contiguous land unit. This study was conducted to determine the impact of land fragmentation as measured by average...

Biorefineries that plan to use switchgrass exclusively will have to account for year-to-year variability in feedstock production. The objective of this research is to determine the quantity, class, and location of land to lease for switchgrass production to provide for the needs of a...

The objective of this paper is to determine production costs of switchgrass, eastern gammagrass, and giant miscanthus using Mississippi and Oklahoma data. Production costs were computed using a standard enterprise budgeting approach by species and method of harvest. Results indicate cost...

Crop rotations are not common in the wheat belt of the Southern Plains. After years of continuous wheat, weeds have become increasingly difficult and expensive to manage. Yield data were elicited from farmers and used to determine if canola-wheat-wheat rotations are economically competitive with...