PEORIA, Ill. – Continuing research suggests that giant miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), an ornamental, warm-season perennial grass that originates from southeast Asia, is showing promise as a commercial biomass crop. This is according to Emily Heaton, professor of regenerative agriculture at the University of Illinois Department of Crop Sciences, who is rethinking miscanthus as a purpose-grown fiber. Along with a team at the U of I Biomass Innovation Hub, Heaton has been experimenting with miscanthus for many years to verify its multiple uses.

She came to Peoria on April 22 to speak to local farmers and business leaders about the potential for business opportunities around miscanthus and other multi-use crops during a meeting of AgTech Connect, which brings together central Illinois ag tech entrepreneurs, small business owners and industry.

“In the long term we’ve been trying to figure out the best way for farmers to harvest sunlight energy. Miscanthus came on our radar about 25 years ago because it has the most efficient C-4 photosynthesis pathway like corn and sugarcane, but it uses it to put on more biomass than any crop we can grow in central Illinois. It is one of the most productive crops known at temperate-cool latitudes like ours,” Heaton said. 

Research trials conducted around the state included on-farm trials that have continued for as many as 20 years. Farmers “like” miscanthus for several reasons, according to Heaton. At the top of the list: a single planting of giant miscanthus can be harvested for as many as 15 successive planting seasons, saving on input costs. It also improves soil health and builds soil carbon, while boosting soil water quality and storage. Because it can flourish on marginal land and survive periodic flooding and drought, Heaton suggests growers plant miscanthus in underperforming areas that may currently be seeded to corn and soybeans.

“What we’ve found is that it is consistently high yielding and requires consistently low inputs. You plant it once and there are very little fertilizer requirements, very little pesticide requirements. It doesn’t need herbicides after establishment. You harvest it each year and we’ve found you can increasingly turn it into more and more product,” Heaton said, adding that the University of Iowa has been planting miscanthus since 2013 for energy use in their power plant.

“We knew it was a great plant from an efficiency and environmental standpoint, but we didn’t know how to sell it. At first, we focused on fuel, because there was a lot of incentive for that. Those incentives have gone through ups and downs, but what hasn’t gone away is that (miscanthus) can achieve consistent fiber compared to many others, so domestic manufacturing (and) bio-products have become increasingly valued and valuable in this country,” she said.

In addition to its other favorable qualities, farmers also like miscanthus because of its consistent quality, long-term contracting opportunities and its versatility as a hunting habitat for pheasant, quail or deer. End users (customers) of miscanthus like the plant because of its consistency in supply and quality, flexible uses in the fuel, feed and product spheres, long-term contracting and the public demand for research and development for new biomass-based products, according to Heaton.

One such customer is Travis Hedrick, CEO of AGgrow Tech, a leader in giant miscanthus technology and production. The High Point, N.C., company boasts one of the largest miscanthus genetic germplasm libraries in the world, numerous plant patents and the first giant miscanthus seeded variety.

“There are different market opportunities for miscanthus, but the one that is kind of the bedrock of our company is livestock bedding for the poultry industry,” said Hedrick, pointing out that poultry producers can grow their own crop for on-farm use and commercial sale. “There is a real opportunity right here in Peoria.”

To take advantage of central Illinois’ conducive climate and infrastructure-related advantages, Florida-based Boardwurks Biocomposites (www.boardwurks.com) is planning to construct a manufacturing facility for fiber-based building materials in the Peoria area. In addition to providing between 20 and 50 expected full-time jobs, the facility will offer contractual opportunities to local farmers willing to plant and cultivate at least 50 acres of perennial giant miscanthus, with technical expertise and assistance from Hedrick and AGgrow Tech. 

To build the plant, for which a location has been tentatively secured, Peoria-area farmers would need to commit to growing at least 2,000 total acres of miscanthus, according to Boardwurks director of business developer Jean-Sebastian Gros, who came to Peoria to solicit support for the business plan from local farmers.