Miscanthus: an alternative crop for marginal lands?
Sustainable Agriculture
Haley Sater
Agriculture Extension Educator; Agriculture and Food Systems
University of Maryland Extension
Salisbury
Abstract
The Eastern Shore of Maryland has historically been a productive area for growing conventional grain crops. However, in certain areas close to the Chesapeake Bay tributaries or low elevation a serious challenge has arisen, saltwater intrusion along with frequent flooding events. These once fertile fields for growing agronomic crops have been left fallow or suffered total yield losses. Another additional stress for many farms across the Eastern Shore is increasing deer damage in agronomic commodities leading to crop loss. Preliminary research has indicated that an alternate grass crop could withstand these marginal conditions. Giant miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus) is a sterile hybrid warm season grass that was bred to be a biomass crop. It has a market on the Eastern Shore because it is being used in local poultry houses as a bedding material. The goal of this study was to evaluate a 10 acre commercially managed field of miscanthus in an area where all three factors (saltwater intrusion, deer pressure, and flooding) are present. Our research methods include GPS mapping and subdividing the fields into twenty half acre plots, soil analysis of each plot, moisture monitoring at different depths in six plots and yield measurements from a 1 m2 subplot in each of the 20 plots. Using these measurements and observations we will determine and communicate to farmers through field days and factsheets if miscanthus can be grown on marginal land on the Eastern Shore, and if it is commercially viable in terms of yield for producers.
Authors: Haley Sater
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Haley Sater Agent Associate – Agriculture and Food Systems, Univeristy of Maryland Extension, Maryland, 21801