Farmers look to switchgrass as biofuel

The Associated Press

ASHLAND, Ky. -- Two Boyd County farmers look at switchgrass and see the color green -- the money they believe they can make by converting the crop into fuel for electric power.

The Ashland Daily Independent reports Glen Young and Danny Blevins are in the second year of a pilot project to grow the native prairie species and sell it as a biofuel that could be a more environmentally friendly alternative to coal, or at least a supplement.

"That's the age-old question for a farmer: Is it practical?" said Blevins, a retired teacher, environmentalist and conservationist who grows the grass on his family farm in Boyd County. "Can you make a profit? I think you can."

Among the most dominant grasses in the prairies that once covered the central plains, switchgrass is a perennial that grows to around six feet and can be harvested once or more per year for 10 years. It can survive extreme temperature swings and drought better than most traditional crops.

One advantage, Young says, is no special equipment is needed to grow or harvest it. He plants it with the same no-till drill he uses for grain, soybeans and other grasses and maintains it with the sprayers and harvesters found in his barn.

Even on marginal land, the grass has proven reliable. Even through dryness last year and excessive rainfall this year. Young and Blevins are among 20 farmers who are growing five-acre plots of the grass under a University of Kentucky test project.