Switchgrass has been proposed as a dedicated energy crop to fulfill long-term policy goals. Production costs were determined for switchgrass and three alternative perennial grass species for four levels of nitrogen fertilizer and two harvest systems. For the alternatives evaluated, biomass...

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...

Changes in the U.S. peanut program have resulted in drastically decreased planted acres and forced many peanut producers in the Southwest to consider alternative crops. This study examined the economic risk associated with producing peanuts and common alternatives to peanuts. Seedless watermelon...

The objective of this research is to determine the cost to harvest lignocellulosic biomass, such as crop residue and perennial grasses, for use as biorefinery feedstock, and to determine the potential economies of size that might result from a coordinated structure. The estimates show that...

The logistics of providing an orderly flow of lignocellulosic feedstock to a biorefinery have not been addressed by most biorefinery feasibility studies. A mixed integer mathematical programming model is developed that includes integer decision variables enabling investment in harvest machines...

The objective of the research is to determine the optimal grazing termination date that maximizes expected net returns from dual-purpose winter wheat production. Preliminary results indicate that grazing should be terminated at or before first hollow stem to generate the highest expected net...

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...

This study estimates the farm-gate breakeven price of switchgrass relative to wheat in Oklahoma. The breakeven price of switchgrass is determined for two situations: when external consequences are ignored and when the environment costs of changes in soil erosion, fertilizer (nitrogen and...

Winter wheat is grown for three purposes in the Southern Plains, grain-only, forage-only, and as a dual-purpose forage plus grain crop. The USDA's wheat cropping practices survey does not differentiate among the three uses. Little information on actual production practices across use is...

A method of estimating a linear response stochastic plateau function is developed and used to determine optimal levels of nitrogen fertilization for wheat. Under the stochastic plateau model, optimizing behavior implies different nitrogen levels than the linear plateau model, depending on the...