Abstract
Pennycress can be used as a renewable biomass because its harvested seeds can be converted into biofuel, supplying, for example the aviation industry. Pennycress can be adopted as a winter cover crop to make extra profit in addition to summer cash crops. This study ascertains influences on row crop farmers’ interest in growing pennycress to supply a biofuels industry. The study uses data from a survey of row-crop farmers in seven US states. Effects of farm and farmer attributes on acceptance of a farmgate pennycress price are measured. Nearly 58% were interested in growing pennycress if profitable. Among those interested, 54.4% would accept the farmgate pennycress price offered. Positive influences on interest included farm size, education, and familiarity with pennycress, while concern about knowledge on growing pennycress, and use of no-till practices had negative influences. Farmers aged 40 to 65 were more likely to accept the price, while share of rented hectares and no debt had positive influences. More risk-averse farmers and those using no-till were less likely to accept. Results suggest that the majority of row crop farmers would be interested in growing pennycress if profitable, while the overall willingness to accept the farmgate price was when it was at $0.28/kg.
Highlights
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires that the consumption of renewable transportation fuel increase to 136 million cubic meters by 2022 [1,2]
Pennycress can be adopted as a winter cover crop to provide supplemental income to summer cash crops
While pennycress has potential benefits to row crop farmers and promise as a biofuels feedstock, no prior research has been conducted to assess farmer interest in growing it as a bioenergy feedstock crop or to ascertain the prices required by farmers to adopt it
Summary
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires that the consumption of renewable transportation fuel increase to 136 million cubic meters by 2022 [1,2]. Pennycress (Thalaspi arvense L.) can be used as a renewable biomass feedstock for jet fuel because its harvested seeds can be converted into biofuel supplied for the aviation industry. It is native to Eurasia and belongs to the Brassicaceae family Some farmers consider it a “weed”, but it can be grown as an annual winter cover crop [1,6]. It germinates in the fall and flowers, and sets seeds in the spring the year.
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