Four more states will be added to the list of project areas under a Farm Service Agency program that encourages producers to establish unconventional crops to be used for biofuels.
Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania were selected as part of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program that will provide financial incentives to eligible agriculture producers to grow giant miscanthus — a sterile, hybrid warm-season grass that is cultivated through the planting of rhizomes in open fields.
“This represents another step in agriculture’s contribution to the President’s energy goals to establish commercial-scale dedicated energy crops,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
MFA Oil Biomass, a partnership between MFA Oil and Aloterra Energy will sponsor the project and estimates a $150 million economic impact from growing the new energy crop, according to a company press release. About 1,700 farm families are expected to grow the crop.
“Our goal is to establish approximately 50,000 acres of miscanthus in each of the three project areas,” said Scott Coye‐Huhn, director of business development for Aloterra Energy. “That goal will enable each area to process approximately 600,000 tons of biomass per year.”
Selected producers will receive up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing a perennial bioenergy crop and can receive up to five years of annual payments for herbaceous crops, whether annual or perennial. Producers that plant annual or perennial woody crops can receive up to 15 years of annual payment incentives.
BCAP is a primary component of the strategy to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil, improve domestic energy security, reduce pollution and spur rural economic development and job creation. Learn more.
