News and Events
Third Quarter 2011
Volume 3, Issue 3
Center for Sustainable Energy
Kansas State University
www.sustainable-energy.ksu.edu • energy@ksu.edu
Bergtold Leads Study to Determine Farmers’
Willingness to Grow Crops for Bioenergy Production
Newsletter Topics
Sun Grant Award Studies
Farmers’ Willingness to Grow
Crops for Bioenergy Production
Bioenergy Symposium Brings
Experts to Campus
CSE Poster Awards Presented
for Bioenergy Research
What’s new in your
world of sustainable
energy?
Please send news and
event information to
energy@ksu.edu.
Funding Opportunities
• Updated Submission
Window—NSF Energy
for Sustainability, PD
12-764 (Environmental
Engineering and Sustainability), full proposal window: 1/15/12
to 02/17/12; http://
www.nsf.gov/funding/
• Find other proposal
due dates by clicking
on “Funding Opportunities for Sustainable
Energy” on the CSE
home page at
www.sustainableenergy.ksu.edu
Jason Bergtold, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, led
a study to determine farmers’ willingness to
grow crops for bioenergy production under
different contracting, pricing and harvesting
arrangements. The project is funded by the
U.S. Department of Transportation through
the Sun Grant Initiative at Oklahoma State
University.
Farmers’ perceptions about bioenergy crop
production and their willingness to produce
these crops remains an unanswered question
due to uncertainty and risk with growing new
crops without an established market. To help
temper this, the study asked farmers to rank
their preferences for alternative contracts on
three potential biofuel feedstocks: corn stover,
sweet sorghum and switchgrass. Contracts will
be important for farmers who require a guaranteed buyer for their product and for biorefineries who are required to have contracts in
place to procure financing.
Each hypothetical contract contained different
values of net returns, contract length (in years),
a biorefinery custom harvest option and cropspecific attributes including biorefinery soil
nutrient replacement, insurance availability,
government incentive payments and a biorefinery seed cost-share arrangement.
Lower net returns or longer contract lengths
reduced the likelihood of farmer adoption of
biomass crops. In addition, residue removal
may be a deterrent to large-scale cellulosic biomass production. Many farmers surveyed indicated they were unwilling to remove residue
due to soil erosion and soil moisture loss. Survey respondents indicated they were more willing to produce crops for biomass on an annual
basis than over an extended period, as switchgrass would require due to uncertainty associated with establishing and growing a crop for
10 years or more. In
addition, many farmers
are nervous about establishing a perennial
crop on rented land.
Important preliminary
findings show that at a
$35-per-acre return
above corn or sorghum
production, farmers are
Jason Bergtold
about 15% less likely to (photo courtesy of College
of Agriculture)
adopt a sweet sorghum
contract with an eightyear contract length than a two-year contract
length, and about 3% more likely to adopt a
contract with insurance similar to existing crop
insurance. Results also show farmers are about
10% more likely to adopt a two-year contract
to supply corn stover without nutrient replacement than an eight-year contract, but the difference drops to about 7% with nutrient replacement included in the contract.
Switchgrass had the lowest probability of
adoption among the three feedstocks. Results
indicate only a 33% chance of adoption at net
returns of $35 per acre above normal crop
production for the shortest contract option
contract without insurance and a 38% probability of adoption with insurance. This compares to 46% and 48%, respectively, for sweet
sorghum, and 41% and 44%, respectively, for
corn stover under the nutrient replacement
option.
This research will serve as a starting point for
contract designs that are fair to farmers and
biorefineries. In addition, the research benefits
policy makers, biofuel producers and farmers
by helping to establish conditions for a market
that does not currently exist.
—Jason Bergtold
News and Events
Center for Sustainable Energy
Volume 3, Issue 3
Page 2
Bioenergy Symposium Brings Experts to Campus
The Center for Sustainable Energy Bioenergy Symposium was held at K-State’s
International Grains Program Executive Conference Center on April 27 - 28, 2011.
The theme, “Mapping Sustainable Bioenergy Opportunities in the Central Great
Plains—Feedstocks, Land Use, Markets and Socio-economic Aspects,” brought together recognized experts in agriculture, bioenergy development and production,
academia, government and the environment to discuss and assess agricultural,
environmental and economic/market issues pertaining to large-scale bioenergy
feedstock production and implementation in the central Great Plains. With information and insights presented by all symposium participants and with the aid of a
select group, CSE will develop a “roadmap” that 1) outlines all key agronomic,
energy, environmental, economic and socio-economic, and regulatory and government-related issues and areas affecting large-scale bioenergy production in
the central Great Plains, and 2) details the research and educational steps necessary to begin and accomplish bioenergy resource development and utilization in
this region. Two K-State centers partnered to sponsor the Bioenergy Symposium,
the Center of Sustainable Energy and the Center for Sorghum Improvement.
Presentations and biosketches of symposium presenters can be found at
http://sustainable-energy.ksu.edu/presentations.
CSE Graduate Student Awards Presented for 2010-11 Bioenergy Research
Poster Aaard recipients, from top to
bottom: Mohammed Hussain, Jason
Fewell, Myles Ikenberry, Bryon
Parman, and Leslie Schulte
Co-directors
Ron Madl
785-532-7022
rmadl@k-state.edu
Mary Rezac
785-532-5584
rezac@k-state.edu
Educational Programs
785-532-2029
rutlin@k-state.edu
Center Office
785-532-4995
energy@k-state.edu
An outstanding level of bioenergy research accomplishments were achieved this
past year as indicated by the quality of posters and presentations given by graduate students at the Bioenergy Symposium, April 27 - 28, 2011, making selection
of poster awards challenging for the judges. Congratulations to the following students listed below, with their faculty advisors and department, on presenting exceptional posters that most effectively demonstrated the progress of their sustainable energy research.
• $1,000
•
$750
•
$750
•
$500
•
$500
Mohammed Hussain (Peter Pfromm, chemical engineering)
Jason Fewell (Jason Bergtold, agricultural economics)
Myles Ikenberry (Keith Hohn, chemical engineering)
Bryon Parman (Vincent Amanor-Boadu, agricultural economics)
Leslie Schulte (Mary Rezac, chemical engineering)
CSE acknowledges and appreciates funding from ConocoPhillips that made it possible to grant the CSE poster awards. To view all poster presentations go to
http://sustainable-energy.ksu.edu/node/81.
The Kansas State University Center for Sustainable Energy, through research and educational
efforts, seeks to provide sustainable, renewable energy while maintaining the environment and
providing an adequate food supply. K-State offers significant educational and scientific resources
related to the complete cycle of biofuels production. Basic and applied research, education and outreach
activities are components of the center. Center activities involve more than 30 faculty from across
campus, including representatives from the agriculture, arts and sciences, and engineering colleges.
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