Genuity Corn Residue Meeting Norfolk, NE July 25th

Transcription

1 Genuity Corn Residue Meeting Norfolk, NE July 25th

2 Corn yield (bu/ac) Corn yields have increased as new technologies are developed and used National average Duvick's era hybrid averages IA state avg US yield 29 bu/ac Duvick DN (1997) Griliches(1960) 2009 US yield 163 bu/ac 2

3 Higher yields come with more residue Livingston County, IL 28 May 2010 Strip till corn after corn 2009 corn yield 230 bu/ac 3

4 Harvest Index (grain/total above ground mass) Corn Stover: A challenge and an opportunity The amount of stover on a field increases as grain yields increase Harvest index vs. grain yield Planting 2 nd yr corn in Nebraska 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Grain yield (bu/ac) 2008 trials 13 locations, 14 unique hybrids (101 to 111RM) Grain ~ 58% of the dry biomass in a field at harvest Stover (stalks, cobs, leaves) ~ 42% of the dry biomass 200 bu/ac field 4.8 bone dry tons/ac 3.4 bone dry tons/ac 4

5 Growers are spending time and money to manage residue Specialized equipment Yetter Manufacturing Cut and Move Combo John Deere Stalk Master Corn Head Row Unit Calmer Revolving Window BT "CRUSHING" Knife Rolls Tillage passes based on rotation (Eastern IA) Corn-corn Soy-corn Monsanto 2009 grower interviews

6 Residue survey used to gauge farmer view of stover Three geographies Central West South What is a typical crop rotation for the corn acres on your farming operation? Residue survey (Sept 2010) 528 farmers Are actively involved in farming Are primarily responsible for decisions concerning seed purchases Planted at least 500 corn acres in

7 Farmers view residue management as a problem Over the past few years, would you say that managing corn residue has become: 7

8 Residue management costs about $12/ac More than $20 $15.01 to $20 $10.01 to $15 $5.01 to $10 $5 or less Don't know Overall (n=285) Percent of Respondents Average $12.50 West (n=54) $11.40 Central (n=162) $12.95 South (n=69) $ ,000+ corn acres (n=116) $12.05 Irrigated (West) corn acres (n=49) $11.35 Continuous corn acres (n=219) $ Q.2f What would you estimate the additional cost per acre for these tillage efforts to manage corn residue? Please include labor, fuel, and equipment costs. 8

9 Management tools can be used to estimate national stover supply Harvestable Stover (dry tons/ac) State Residue (million tons) Area (million ac) Harvest rate (tons/ac) Iowa Illinois Minnesota Nebraska Indiana Ohio Includes soil organic matter (SCI), water erosion (RUSLE2) and wind erosion (WEPS). Source: D. Muth 9

10 Uncertainty and risks of corn stover harvests Baled field in Iowa Shredded field in Nebraska with wind drift Properly done, corn stover harvests will increase the value of an acre of corn Improperly done, corn stover harvests will damage fields 10

11 Soil health: Manage to erosion and organic matter targets Stover is required to maintain soil quality Reduces wind erosion Reduces water erosion Provides organic matter to soil Soil organic matter Enhances soil water and nutrient holding capacity Improves soil structure (less crusting, compaction and erosion) Promotes higher crop yields Conservation planning tools (RUSLE2, WEPS, and SCI) have been used to estimate field-specific stover retention targets Andrews S (2006) Crop Residue Removal for Biomass Energy Production: Effects on Soils and Recommendations University of Nebraska Extension: Harvesting Crop Residues USDA NRCS (2010) Conservation practice standard 344: Residue management, Seasonal. ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nhq/practice-standards/standards/344.pdf USDA NRCS Soil Quality Institute (2003) Interpreting the Soil Conditioning Index: A Tool for Measuring Soil Organic Matter Trends. Technical Note No

12 Stover project structure and scope Sustainable harvest Transport Storage Conversion Large scale joint work Individual research scale work Feedstock improvement Improved tillage, planting and harvest Biofuel production Improvement 12

13 Soil health: Manage to erosion and organic matter targets Residue requirements by field (average = 2.5 ± 1.3 dry tons/ac, n = 144) Management targets: Erosion < 2.5 tons/ac Build organic matter (all SCI subfactors > 0) RUSLE2 and Soil Conditioning Index (SCI) used to estimate amount of stover needed to reach these targets on field-by-field basis. Field stover requirements depend on rotation, yield, slope, soil type and management. Corn yield required to provide minimum amount of stover 132 ± 66 bu/ac in Benton County, Iowa. Fields most suitable for harvest are flatter, higher yielding (C-C preferred) and have less tillage 13

14 Harvest statistics All near Cedar Rapids, IA Large round bales Large square bales Total harvest (dry tons) Baling rate (dry tons/ac) 1.2 ± ± ± 0.3 Enrolled fields Harvested fields Average corn yields Participating farmers over the three years 14

15 Windrows at an oblique angle to corn rows 15

16 Three balers used in 2010 harvest John Deere 567/568 Case IH RB564 New Holland BB9080 JD 567/568 CIH RB564 NH BB9080 Bales made Baling rate (bales/hr) 38.6 ± ± 7.0 Bale weight (lbs fw/bale) 1050 ± ± ± 137 Bale moisture (%) 9.8 ± ± ± 5.5 Bale density (lbs dw/ft 3 )* 7.9 ± ± ± 3.6 *Standard deviation includes variation in fresh weights, moisture content and volume 16

17 Measuring bales 17

18 Nutrient replacement costs ($/large round bale) Nutrient replacement value ($9.92 ± $3.84 large round bale) Nutrient replacement value 50%, half of the bales are more expensive and half of the bales are less expensive Fertilizer price ($/lb)* N $ 0.68 $ 0.33 $ 0.51 P 2 O 5 $ 0.90 $ 0.38 $ 0.59 K 2 O $ 0.72 $ 0.43 $ 0.47 Nutrient (NPK) costs and removal rates vary by year Replacement costs are estimated using fall prices Fixing a bale price in the spring is pre-selling nutrients *Estimated Costs of Crop Production in Iowa ISU File A

19 How can we use all this Corn Stover

20 Ruminants are nature s ligno-cellulose converters Processing technologies enable natural conversions in the animal Rumen digestion, % Potentially digestible with processing

21 DM digestion [%] As an animal feed: Stover fractions are less digestible than corn grain Individual stover fractions incubated for 48 hours in buffered rumen fluid from beef cattle Rumen fluid contained fibrolytic and non-fibrolytic microbial species (bacteria, yeast, fungi) DM = dry matter

22 Then comes application of lime to ground stover Size reduce (grind ) and hydrate with water Before treatment Add lime powder to create Ca(OH) 2 Store in low oxygen system (ag bag, bunker) Displace grain and fodders (hay) in ration After treatment

23 Commercial companies are offering the service of grinding and treating bales Stover bales tub ground and pre-treated. Stover ground in commercial grinder fitted with 6 round-hole screen. Lime slurry applied at discharge using fabricated PVC applicator. Lime applied at 5% of dry weight of stover. Back hoe used to pack treated stover in bunker Stover stored for at least 7 days before feeding Source: ADM Commercial Demonstration Trial (Woodbine, Iowa) Pre-treated stover fed at 20% of ration as fed weight

24 Rye cover crop before and after harvest Cover crops can enhance corn stover harvests

25 Cornrower Chopping corn head with windrow former

26 Chopping behind the Cornrower

27 Chopped, treated stover packed into a bunker

28 Feeding trials [Iowa State University] Single-pass stover field chopped or conventional bales tub ground Single pass stover treated with nothing or 5% wt:wt dry powder CaO and water to create Ca(OH) 2 Single pass compressed and stored in plastic Ag bags, anaerobically for 95 days Used in sheep trial to determine feed digestion Used in cattle feeding trial with 210 steers. Cattle fed 183 or 195 days. ADM Sheep and Cattle Feeding Trials Iowa State University

29 Summary of Nebraska Beef Feeding Trials CRF technology improves profitability and reduces grain feeding Trial 1 (140 day feeding) Dry feed intake, lb/d Gain, lb/d Gain:Feed Additional profit/hd Control (33.7 $6/bu) Corn saved, bushels CRF (stover) $ CRF (straw) $ Trial 2 (150 day feeding) Control (37.5 $7/bu) CRF (stover 3 grind) $ CRF (stover 1 grind) $

30 Treating stover improved returns Feeding CRF throughout trial was best Return, $/steer Ingredient DM Cost/ton or bu as is Cost/dt Baled Stover, ground 0.73 $ 55 $ 75 Bagged, not-treated 0.68 $ 59 $ 87 Bagged, treated 0.47 $ 51 $ 110 Modified wet DG 0.50 $ 89 $ 179 Corn 0.88 $ 5.50 $ 6.26 Supplement 0.89 $ 400 $ 447 $ $90.54 $87.00 $64.56 $47.66 $35.07 Corn Grower Baled Stover Grower Untrt Stover Grower Trt stover Grower Baled Stover Untrt Stover Trt Stover Corn Finisher Corn $(12.16) Finisher Corn Finisher Corn Finisher Grower/Finisher Grower/Finisher Grower/Finisher ADM AFR Cattle Feeding Trial Iowa State University

31 Conclusions and Considerations Cattle fed pre-processed corn stover and distillers grains performed as well as cattle fed a high grain diet On-farm stover processing can be practiced using existing equipment CRF (stover + distillers) can be fed at more that 50% of the diet Returns may be improved by using CRF LCA an important consideration

32 Corn stover harvests and uses: Summary Properly done, stover harvests can improve the value of an acre of corn Requires management to erosion and organic matter targets Nutrient (N, P, K) removal costs average about $10/bale Harvesting dry stover can be challenging Cattle feed application works with wet stover Lower cost, higher volume bulk harvest are possible

33 Thank You