BCRF Update: January-February 2016

October 20, 2016
In December an Iowa State University switchgrass field plot was cut using the Discbine 313 Disc Mower-Conditioner and the T6.140 tractor. The work was done by the Iowa State Biomass Team, led by BCRF affiliate Emily Heaton, associate professor of agronomy.
In December an Iowa State University switchgrass field plot was cut using the Discbine 313 Disc Mower-Conditioner and the T6.140 tractor. The work was done by the Iowa State Biomass Team, led by BCRF affiliate Emily Heaton, associate professor of agronomy.

New Holland Continues Support of Biomass Crop Research at Iowa State University

New Holland Agriculture, represented by Scott Wangsgard, has generously provided several pieces of equipment on loan to the BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) for biomass crop research projects. The loan includes three tractors, a disc mower and a round baler. The equipment will be used to support research on several crops including corn stover, switchgrass and Miscanthus. This contribution will allow researchers and their students an opportunity to work with the newest technology available for harvesting biomass crops. Additionally, the equipment will allow Iowa State to look at biomass research not just at a small plot scale, but a much larger field scale as well. This is the not the first time New Holland Agriculture has provided equipment to the BCRF. In 2014 they provided two tractors.

The recent loan from New Holland Agriculture included the following pieces of equipment:

  • T6.140 
    This tractor will be used to not only operate the windrower and baler, but also to move bales. It is equipped with a front-end loader.
  • T8.330
    This tractor will be used for pulling balers and for general use around the BCRF.
  • Boomer
    This compact tractor will be used for smaller plot-scale work, and to move other pieces of equipment as needed. It is equipped with a front-end loader.
  • Discbine 313 Disc Mower-Conditioner
    This mower-conditioner unit is equipped with a cane-harvesting kit, which allows a slightly higher cutting height to prevent tire punctures from rigid biomass crop stubble. Additionally, this machine has a push-bar attachment to ease the cutting of taller crops such as Miscanthus.
  • Roll-Belt 560 Round Baler
    This is a specialty crop round baler.

Video of Baler

Congressman Young Tours BCRF Facilities

U.S. Congressman David Young visited the BCRF on Jan. 21. Kevin Keener, BCRF director; Andy Suby, BCRFmanager; and Lysle Whitmer, BioEconomy Institute senior thermochemical research engineer, gave Young a tour of the facilities and talked about the role that the BCRF and Iowa State is playing in the development of the emerging bioeconomy. Young also spent time touring other Iowa State facilities including the Biorenewables Research Laboratory and Plant Sciences Institute.

BCRF Exhibits at Renewable Fuels Summit

The BCRF was an exhibitor at the 2015 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and Trade Show on Jan. 19 in Altoona, Iowa. Many attendees visited the exhibit and were able to see samples of materials produced at the BCRF including ground feedstocks, bio-oil, biochar and torrefied corn stover pellets.

New Research Studies Iowa Farmland that Loses Money

BCRF affiliates Emily Heaton, associate professor of agronomy, and Lisa Schulte Moore, associate professor of natural resource ecology and management, were part of a multidisciplinary team that released a new study that shows significant portions of Iowa farmland consistently produce yields that fall short of the cost of the inputs required to grow crops. It may make more sense to change how those unprofitable acres are used, according to the researchers. For example, converting some of those acres to perennial grasses would have environmental benefits such as curtailing erosion and providing habitat for wildlife. Read the news release here.

Visitors Tour BCRF

The BCRF had the following visitors: DuPont, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and U.S. Congressman David Young.

Cut switchgrass was baled in December using the Roll-Belt 560 Round Baler and the T6.140 tractor. The work was done by the Iowa State Biomass Team, led by BCRF affiliate Emily Heaton, associate professor of agronomy.
Cut switchgrass was baled in December using the Roll-Belt 560 Round Baler and the T6.140 tractor. The work was done by the Iowa State Biomass Team, led by BCRF affiliate Emily Heaton, associate professor of agronomy.