The USDA awarded an Iowa State University-led group a $25 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop the blueprint for using marginal farmlands to grow perennial grasses that will, in turn, provide a biomass source for a drop-in biofuel-based fuel over the next five years. The multi-state, interdisciplinary team is lead by Ken Moore, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agronomy.