Planting Miscanthus at the Iowa State University Sorenson farm site. Planting was completed by the ISU Biomass Team, led by Emily Heaton, associate professor in agronomy and BioCentury Research Farm affiliate. The Miscanthus was being planted for the Long-term Assessment of Miscanthus Productivity and Sustainability (LAMPS) project, which is funded by the Iowa Energy Center, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Iowa Facilities Management, Iowa EPSCoR, Iowa State University Department of Agronomy and National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch funds.
Preparing red oak using a fully automated belt dryer and hammermill. At the beginning of this single-pass drying process, the red oak chips started at 60% moisture and were dried and milled to 1/8" at 10% moisture.
Harvesting switchgrass at an Iowa State University research field. Harvesting was completed by members of Emily Heaton’s research team. Heaton is an associate professor in agronomy at Iowa State University and a BioCentury Research Farm affiliate. The switchgrass field is part of the North Central Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Partnership, funded by the Department of Energy and United States Department of Agriculture. Machinery is on loan from New Holland Agriculture.
Corn stover bales were delivered and stacked at the BioCentury Research Farm for storage trials.