Biofuel grass is planted in state

LITTLE ROCK — For the past month, MFA Oil of Columbia, Mo., has been planting hundreds of acres of a tall grass in northeast Arkansas that it hopes will become a viable energy source.

So far, 1,500 acres of about 6,500 acres of miscanthus have been planted in the state as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture funding assistance program, said Tim Wooldridge, MFA Oil’s Arkansas project manager.

“We have a wait list of 1,500 acres,” Wooldridge said.

The USDA announced a Biomass Crop Assistance Program in July to promote the growing of miscanthus on 17,000 acres in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The program pays for 75 percent of the cost of planting. The program also allocates some money for conversion facilities in the four states.

The USDA said in July that the project in Arkansas could create 750 refinery, agriculture and support jobs.

It has not yet been determined into what kind of fuel source the miscanthus will be converted, but MFA Oil plans a facility near Paragould, Wooldridge said. The plant could be turned into pellets that would allow coal to burn slower and increase capacity at power plants, or it could be turned into a liquid that would be used either as a fuel or an additive, he said.

“I would really like to see a liquid conversion plant in Arkansas,” Wooldridge said.

The miscanthus in the state won’t be cut until January 2014 and could produce for 15 to 20 years, Wooldridge said.

Because Arkansas’ climate and soil are well suited for miscanthus, the state has been allocated more acres than the other states, Wooldridge said. Counties eligible for the program are Craighead, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett and Randolph.

Miscanthus is planted on land not suitable for traditional cash crops.

Arkansas State University associate professor Steve Green said it is an ideal crop for conversion to a fuel source.

“I think it’s a fantastic potential crop for Arkansas,” Green said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s a low-input crop, meaning it requires little to no fertilizer, and it’s a perennial, meaning you don’t have to plant it every year.”

Green said that miscanthus is a better option than switchgrass, another crop being tested for its potential as a energy crop, because it yields more per acre. He said miscanthus also doesn’t need as much water or sunlight as cash crops.

Miscanthus, which can grow 8 feet to 12 feet tall, yields between 10 and 15 tons per acre, while switchgrass produces 5 to 10 tons per acre, Green said. A ton of miscanthus can be sold for $40 to $70.

In August, the State Plant Board expressed concerns that miscanthus could become invasive, but those fears have been mostly quelled.

Terry Walker, director of the plant industry division of the State Plant Board, said Wednesday that as long as the miscanthus variety getting planted right now is the only kind planted it should not cause problems.

“The variety that they are using is sterile, and as long as that variety maintains those characteristics, the probability that it will be invasive ... is not as drastic as it could be,” Walker said. “We still have concerns that as it goes into wider use ... it could be misused” or the wrong variety could get planted.

Wooldridge said the miscanthus that MFA Oil is planting is sterile and won’t spread.