M i s c a n t h u s B r e e d i n g
Opportunity for more miscanthus growers in Wales?
Terravesta report on Aberystwyth University's Miscanthus Information and Open Day, September 2017
According to the Welsh Government, approximately 80% of the land area in Wales is designated as a less favourable area (LFA). This means that production conditions are difficult, with many areas where land, climatic and cultivation conditions are poor. The land is therefore more suited to pasture and livestock farming rather than arable cropping. The widespread highlands are more favourable towards sheep, specifically hardy Welsh Mountain Sheep.
With Brexit on the horizon, and uncertainty mounting, many Welsh livestock farmers are looking at diversification income streams to help future-proof their businesses. We explored the possibility of Miscanthus providing part of a solution, and spoke to Welsh farmers who are already benefiting from the crop as a bedding on a 'Welsh Miscanthus Safari', run by Aberystwyth University (IBERS), at the end of September.
The day started with a visit to a six-hectare commercial Miscanthus trial field. The five-year-old Miscanthus giganteus crop is managed by Jon McCalmont, research assistant in bioenergy and environmental biology at Aberystwyth University.
He said: "It yields around eight tonnes per hectare and has proven valuable for a local beef and sheep farmer."
Every spring Jon donates the dried cane to Richard Tudor, a local livestock farmer, who is invited to harvest it himself with his own forage harvester. He chips it and has found it's a very effective bedding material.
"It saves me approximately £2,500 and it's good for housing sheep and cattle. Cereal straw is getting more expensive and I've been considering growing my own Miscanthus crop for bedding," Richard says.
"It's difficult to grow barley in this area, but we are good at growing grass!"
Plenty of Welsh farmers are situated in upland highly exposed areas, and report difficulty in establishing cereal crops. But farmers were pleasantly surprised in the afternoon visit to a Miscanthus trial plot that's thriving at 1000 feet above sea level. It's a project that's been implemented in by Pwllpeiran Upland Research Centre, and on the plot, is a Miscanthus giganteus crop as well as three new hybrid trials, one of which has the potential to be harvested In November rather than the spring, which could be better timing than a spring harvest for livestock farmers.
Terravesta spoke to delegates at the event, and fielded questions from keen farmers. And while the market for Miscanthus isn't well established in Wales, Jacob Duce, Terravesta sales and marketing manager says there is an appetite for it.
"Our power stations are in the East of the UK, making it unlikely that returns will stack up due to the cost of haulage, but growing Miscanthus for bedding may be a way for Welsh farmers to benefit from a crop that grows well in the Welsh uplands and copes with more challenging topography."
"Terravesta works with 265 Miscanthus growers, all over the UK, to service large and small-scale energy markets, and while there are currently few Miscanthus farmers in Wales, the opportunity to plant the crop for bedding for own use is very real, and anyone interested in planting the crop for 2018 should get in touch with us," says Jacob.
Environmental benefits - miscanthus is an ideal habitat for brown hares
The environmental credentials of miscanthus are further boosted in a new study, which suggests the crop can support hare populations.
Once established, the crop can act as a valuable habitat for the brown hare, according to research.
"While we know rabbits and hares can be a problem for miscanthus during establishment, its great news for mature crops," says Michal Mos, Terravesta head of science and technology.
"On establishing crops, if rabbits and hares are a problem, the advice is to fence the crop to stop them damaging it," says Michal. "Once mature - the study has found that the hares never feed on the grass, but like to sleep in it during the day because they are nocturnal."
"Because no herbicides, fungicides or pesticides go into miscanthus, and little maintenance is required - a mature crop has been proven to provide a safe haven for hares," adds Michal.
Dr Silviu Petrovan of the conservation science group at the University of Cambridge carried out the research. "What we strongly suspect is that these areas of miscanthus are very good at replacing lost diversity in the farmland," he told BBC News. "If you have a single block of miscanthus with arable land and grassland fields in the vicinity (mixed farmland) it offers really high-quality habitat for brown hares."
The numbers of brown hares have declined in the UK over the past decades, though they are still common in some areas.
The research is funded by the wildlife charity, People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), and published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research.
A graphic introduction to Bioenergy (SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub)
Click on the image, above, to read or download a PDF copy of the bioenergy comic on the SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub.
Link will open in a new window.
What's the story?
The Supergen Bioenergy Hub’s aim is to “bring together industry, academia and other stakeholders to focus on the research and knowledge challenges associated with increasing the contribution of UK bioenergy to meet strategic environmental targets in a coherent, sustainable and cost-effective manner."
We regularly collaborate between ourselves, the industry and decision makers on our scientific findings but we have yet to embark on an active programme to tell the public about our work which is where the graphic novel comes in. On the 21st of March, we are launching a graphic novel/comic about bioenergy. Within the novel, it covers what bioenergy is, why we should use it, what are people worried about when we talk about bioenergy and how we ensure a future with bioenergy will be sustainable.
In the graphic novel, we address a number of questions we often get asked as bioenergy researchers: "Why is it OK to cut down trees?" "Does it compete with food?" "Does it cause pollution?". This is a great time to find common ground with concerns over biomass, and address how we use research and policies to solve the issues. We also look into to future to see how bioenergy could be adopted and become a normal way of life for all of us.
Why does this matter?
This is so important! Our industrial stakeholders and Advisory Board identified public perception as one of the key barriers to the uptake of bioenergy. This way, no matter how amazing our findings are, if people do not understand them they will not accept them then we will get nowhere.
Why a comic?
We wanted to produce something that could reach to a wide audience, that was both captivating and highly informative. Graphic novels are basically extended infographics, using 'pictures to say 1000 words' and using text to make sure the reader understands what we are showing them.
Who produced it?
The comic was produced by a team of ten SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub post-doctoral researchers working in the UK’s leading universities and research institutes on bioenergy. Five talented artists turned their research into graphics.
Where can I get a copy?
Click on the image of the comic, above, to read the bioenergy comic on the SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub (this link will open in a new browser window). More information on the comic can be found at http://www.supergen-bioenergy.net/comic/
The Essential Growers' Guide (Terravesta)
As part of Terravesta’s commitment to helping our growers get the most out of their Miscanthus, they have put together a series of useful documents, including 'The Essential Growers' Guide' available to download from their website.
If you have any other queries about any aspect of growing or burning Miscanthus, please get in touch today.
M i s c a n t h u s B r e e d i n g t o p r o v i d e s u s t a i n a b l e g l o b a l b i o e n e r g y f o r t h e f u t u r e