Marketing

Switchgrass has an existing market in the livestock industry and potential application in the biofuels or power generation industries. Learn more about these current and potential markets in the following sections.

Forage

Switchgrass can be utilized for fodder through grazing or haying. Feed quality of switchgrass is good if it can be grazed early in the season. If the crop heads out and becomes mature, its quality as a cattle feed decreases. Good switchgrass management during the summer months can present a high-quality forage when cool-season grasses are idle or have little production. Switchgrass is also typically easier to harvest as hay during the summer because of better drying conditions.

Power Plants

Switchgrass in a shredded or densified (pellets, bricks, etc.) form could be co-fired along with coal to generate electricity at power plants. Examples of power demonstration projects that used switchgrass as a fuel source in other states include the Chariton Valley Biomass Project in Iowa and Southern Company in Alabama.

Coal-fired generators produce more than 80 percent of the residential and commercial electricity generated in Missouri. Currently, 23 coal-fired electrical generation plants operate in Missouri. Investor-owned utilities are the most likely buyers of biomass fuel in the near future. Missouri is one of 32 states with a Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires investor-owned utilities to increase renewable energy sources to 2 percent by 2011, 4 percent by 2012, 8 percent by 2015, 11 percent by 2020 and 15 percent by 2021. Eleven investor-owned coal-fired generators that must meet those standards operate in Missouri. Bonus credits are awarded whenever the renewable sources are produced within the state. Investor-owned electric utilities in Missouri that would need to comply with this standard include Ameren, Kansas City Power & Light and Empire District Electric Company. Additionally, the University of Missouri built a biomass generator in 2012 to transition toward renewable energy. City- or county-level renewable energy standards also exist throughout Missouri and could lead to a new market. Lastly, export markets for pelletized biomass exist. Western Europe needs biomass for its power and heat plants; however, this area has primarily focused on U.S. wood pellet exports to date.

A key driver in this evolving power plant market is that plants will want a credible market biomass aggregator to handle procurement, storage, transportation and quality control of the biomass product. To minimize risk, they will seek to establish a long-term contract. Additionally, biomass co-firing is not a common practice in Missouri plants, and site-specific, empirical testing will be needed by each plant to test the usage of any new feedstock.

Heating

Other potential markets for switchgrass or mixed biomass pellets are residential, commercial and industrial customers. Canadians have adopted switchgrass pellets to fuel residential heat stoves. Examples of other users would include poultry operations, swine operations, greenhouses, retail spaces and warehouses. These end-users may reduce heating costs by retrofitting or implementing a new heating system to burn biomass pellets instead of propane as fuel.

Biofuels

Switchgrass can be used as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol or other advanced biofuel. The federal government passed the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and established a yearly mandate for cellulosic ethanol production, which is set at 16 billion gallons by 2022. In recent years, the production of cellulosic ethanol has not met the yearly production level targets despite efforts by the ethanol industry and the federal government. ICM has a pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in St. Joseph, Missouri, that is testing the use of switchgrass and other energy crops. Another company, Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol, is operating a small demonstration facility in Vonore, Tennessee, that is testing switchgrass. These plants could utilize switchgrass as a feedstock if it is economical. Other processes (gasification, pyrolysis, etc.) could evolve to use switchgrass in creating other advanced biofuels, including biodiesel, jet fuel or other niche products.

Challenges of the biofuel industry include reducing high operating and capital costs and establishing reliable feedstock supply networks. A number of companies are pursuing various cellulosic or other biofuel technologies that will have future impacts on agriculture. Most likely, these industries are still several years away from being commercially viable and providing a stable market for producers.

While there are limited direct buyers of biomass crops, there are biomass power facilities located throughout the United States. These power plants require the biomass crops to produce energy. Below are both private companies, biomass power facilities, and biomass energy cooperatives that could be potential markets for biomass products.

The available markets presented on this website are meant to assist producers with marketing decisions. Please contact the specified business location prior to production of switchgrass to verify marketing capability.

Biomass Power Facilities

Available Biomass Energy Cooperatives

Sources

Smith, Ray, Monroe Rasnake, and Mike Collins. 2013. Switchgrass for Bioenergy. Crop Diversification & Biofuel Research Education Center. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension.

Bates, Gary, Pat Keyser, Craig Harper, and John Waller. 2011. Using Switchgrass for Forage. UT Biofuels Initiative. University of Tennessee Extension. SP701-B.

Geisler, Malinda. 2012. Switchgrass Profile. Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Iowa State University. Accessed December 16, 2013.