Make hay while the sun shines
Several folks had hay down last week and I even know some who got it up before Friday?s rain. It?s hard to get hay cut without getting some of it wet. I?ve also talked with some folks around the county who received the TN Department of Agriculture hay barn grants.
Mike Fults out at Irving College told me last week that he had his barn done and it mighty proud of it. Hay looks mighty short this year. Some folks are telling me that they expect half the crop they had last spring. Last Friday?s rain has helped everything. Nursery, corn hay pastures and garden. I?ve heard everything from a half inch to two inches and everyone liked it. We need some this week.
According to the TN Crop Reporting Service hay stocks on Tennessee farms totaled 425,000 tons on May 1, down 43 percent from last year and the lowest since 1996. Hay supplies were short to adequate going into the winter months, with some pockets of severe shortages. Prolonged dry weather during the winter contributed to poor pasture growth and the lack of available grazing. As a result, most producers began feeding hay much earlier than normal and some shortages led to herd reductions.
Disappearance of hay from Dec. 1, 2006 to May 1, 2007, totaled 2.68 million tons, 7 percent lower than the 2005 disappearance of 2.88 million tons for the same period a year earlier.
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CELLULOSIC ETHANOL IN TN FUTURE
Gov. Phil Bredesen included in his 2007-2008 budget proposal $61 million ($72 million counting FY 2006-2007) for a comprehensive alternative fuels strategy to position Tennessee as a national leader in the production of biomass ethanol and related research. The proposal includes $40 million to build a pilot biomass ethanol plant that will operate at a capacity of 5 million gallons per year. Other components of the plan in the 2007-2008 proposed budget include: $10 million for UT and ORNL to fund additional research to increase switchgrass production and achieve efficiencies in the production of cellulosic ethanol. $3 million in research funding to find other, non-biomass alternative fuel sources. $8 million in agricultural incentives to help Tennessee farmers tap into the new farm-based fuels market and produce switchgrass in the quantities required to supply the pilot ethanol plant.
Gov. Bredesen?s proposed bio-energy investment offers a tremendous opportunity for Tennessee’s agricultural community. The research conducted by the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) should lead to a large scale investment in ethanol production that can be an enormous economic stimulus to both farmers and small towns in rural Tennessee.
Relevant points to consider related to the proposed ethanol plant in the Governor’s Budget: This project will not affect the present corn ethanol industry, which is currently about 2% of fuel consumption. The long-term goal of the project is 30%, which is far too large for corn to supply. The plan calls for a demonstration facility at ORNL that will make about 5 million gallons per year. Its purpose is to demonstrate that cellulosic ethanol is not just produced in the laboratory but can be commercially viable. The demonstration facility needs to be located near the laboratories at UT and ORNL in order for it to be near the researchers.
At UT, other researchers will focus on how to increase the yield of switchgrass. Much of this research will likely be at the Ag Experiment Stations around the state. If they can increase the yield from 6 tons per acre to roughly 12-14 tons per acre, the profit margin for the Tennessee farmer will become very attractive.
If the commercial viability of cellulosic ethanol can be achieved, the next step will be the construction (about 3-5 years) of 100 million gallon plants. No doubt, Middle and West Tennessee will be prime locations.
These plants will require an enormous infrastructure of feedstock, truck deliveries and other related items that will be a great stimulus to the state’s rural economy.
Part of the governor’s proposed $72 million investment is $11.6 million ? already funded in the 2006 budget–to build the Joint Institute for Biological Sciences. This building is about two-thirds finished and should open this summer to house UT faculty and students on the ORNL campus where they will conduct bio-energy research at the highest levels with some of the world’s leading scientists in this field.
Gov. Bredesen’s proposal addresses not just one ? but all three ? of the components needed to solve the ethanol challenge. Address the growth of the feedstock, conduct research of turning the feedstock into ethanol. Research will be conducted to scale up the ethanol from ounces in the laboratory to millions of gallons in the factory.
UT and ORNL are currently competing for a $125 million Bio-energy Research Center from the U.S. Department of Energy. If successful, the Bio-energy Center would be housed in the Joint Institute for Biological Sciences. Tennessee is in the final five and is the only finalist from the Southeast. Three locations will be awarded grants.
If all goes to plan in a few years TN farmers will be able to grow switch grass and bale it and haul it to a plant in middle TN where it will be turned into Ethanol. It?s a little early to start seeding yet but keep listening this may be a good thing for folks with a little land and a little equipment.
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SOYBEAN RUST DISCOVERED
It seems that Soybean rust has been indentified near New Iberia, LA on Kudzu. This is southwest of Baton Rouge near the coast. This is 53 days earlier than last year. This is very early but remember for the rust to cause TN any real problems the spores must find a way here and then we must have the right conditions for it to infect the kudzu and soybeans.
Producers need to keep an eye on the maps at the Web site: www.sbrusa.net and don’t get too excited until we see what will happen in the next few weeks. It is still very early in the season. The freeze knocked it back a few weeks ago but we need to keep an eye on those southern storms that we usually get every year in June and July.