Abstract
Annual warm-season grasses such as forage sorghum, sorghum × sudangrass hybrid and sundangrass are highly productive and valuable feed crops (rotational crop and silage). In addition, sugar in the stems of these warm-season grasses can be extracted and fermented, while the cellulose in the bagasse (pressed stalk) can be used for feedstock or cellulosic ethanol, making them versatile to both the forage and biofuel industry. Twelve annual warm-season grasses including forage sorghums, sudangrass, sorghum × sudangrass hybrid, and pearl millet were planted in 1.82 m × 3.35 m plots, harvested and treated as silage and hay before and after sap removal. Dry matter (DM) yield from a single harvest in 2011 and 2012 were collected and analyzed. Further analysis from the varieties includes evaluation for sap production, OBrix, crude protein (CP), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF). Forage quality in silage was negatively affected by removing the sap before ensiling, producing quality similar to that of the hay samples. Sugar yields (SY) were not comparable to sweet sorghum yields reported in the literature, but when considering SY along with bagasse yield a few varieties may offer the potential as a dual purpose crop.
Highlights
Bioenergy feedstock production today, is focused mainly on large operations geared soley toward biomass for bioenergy production
An interaction between year and variety was significant for forage yield (P < 0.0001) and Sugar yields (SY) (P = 0.0402)
Forage yields in 2011 showed varieties Piper and King BMR to have the lowest yields while Pearl Millet, Greengrazer V, and Pace Setter produced the greatest
Summary
Bioenergy feedstock production today, is focused mainly on large operations geared soley toward biomass for bioenergy production. It is uncommon to find data that compare those systems against the possible forage value Without such data, a producer would not likely adopt any practices to include bioenergy crop alternatives. As agriculture strides forward as the main feedstock supplier of bioenergy, it will be essential to include options for many types of producers by focusing on dual-purpose crops. One possibility gaining popularity is the use of high sugar summer annual crops as silage and as a supplier of sap for eventual ethanol production. Crop species for these systems include pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), sudangrass and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids (Sorghum × drummondii)
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