Green Energy

Building Model Networks among Dairy, Vegetable and Floriculture Operations to Grow and Use Shelled Corn for Greenhouse Heat in Massachusetts

This In spring 2008, UMass extension is beginning a project that will focus on using locally grown shelled corn as an alternative fuel to heat greenhouses. Corn is a renewable heat source that can be grown and used in Massachusetts more cheaply than fossil fuels, using available and proven technology. The production of shelled corn for feed was largely abandoned in New England because of cheap corn available from the Midwest. As the cost of corn from outside the region rises along with fossil fuels, the equation shifts. Several dairy and vegetable farmers who have returned to the production and use of shelled corn for feed and/or for heat are finding a positive net income from their investments. Former and current dairy farmers can use or sell shelled corn for either feed or fuel. Vegetable farms that have started growing grain corn find benefits to their crop rotation systems, reduced costs of fuel for their greenhouses, as well as a new crop to sell. However, barriers in equipment, knowledge and marketing links need to be overcome to bring this fuel into more widespread use. Producers need to be assured of a market, users need to know there will be adequate supply, and both need to know that the system will be reliable, profitable and sustainable. This project will help develop the necessary links between producers and users, and will evaluate the cost and benefits for both.

Benefits of using shelled corn. At current prices, corn compares very favorably with the standard fossil fuels that are used for greenhouse heat (see Table 1). Changing to energy sources that can be produced locally, travel a short distance from producer to user, and that have a high ratio of energy output to fossil fuel input is key to a viable future for farming in Massachusetts. While shelled corn is not the only renewable fuel option available, we believe that it is an important one. Growers who shift to a source of carbon that is sequestered from sunlight and burned for fuel on an annual basis can reduce the load of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and reduce our reliance on foreign sources of petroleum. These growers can also reduce their own fuel costs, and by purchasing a locally produced fuel, will provide increased revenues for farms that grow this new crop. If this system meets expectation, it will be a win-win economic development for both producers and users of shelled corn.

Although shelled corn is certainly not the only viable or promising choice as a source of biomass for fuel, it does have many advantages. It is one of the most clean-burning fuels, producing few particulates, no carbon monoxide and virtually no environmental pollution. Corn sequesters carbon in a single growing season, making rapid use of solar energy. The ratio of fossil fuels invested (as fertilizer and fuel to grow, harvest, dry, store and transport) for energy gained (as BTUs of heat) ranges from 1:5 to 1:10 depending on yield, quality, weather and other factors. Fertilizer inputs can be partially offset with organic sources such as manure and legume cover crops. When grain is harvested, over half of the biomass is returned to the soil, helping build organic matter. As an annual crop, grain corn provides flexibility for selecting fields and can be worked into existing rotation strategies on vegetable and dairy farms. On vegetable farms, corn is a valuable rotation crop because it is not susceptible to the same diseases and insect pests as cucurbits, tomatoes, peppers, or most other vegetables. Cucurbits (squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumbers) comprise nearly 40% of our vegetable acreage, and are subject to a growing number of serious diseases. Growing fuel corn in rotational system allows growers to take fields out of production of these crop groups while still providing income.

How will the shelled corn project work? We will work with vegetable, floriculture, and dairy farmers to build at least two model networks (one in the Connecticut Valley and one in Central/Northeastern MA) of producers and users that will work together to establish an economically viable, sustainable system for producing and/or using shelled corn as a crop for greenhouse heat. Each of these networks will consist of at least one producer and at least four users, but more participants are possible. We will provide limited cost sharing to help up to ten participating growers purchase and install the equipment necessary to burn corn in return for their help in evaluating this system and promoting the resulting information. We will also provide cost share to several producers, to help with infrastructure costs for combining, drying or transporting shelled corn.

In addition to helping build and evaluate these model networks, we will host several education programs. Educational programs will include a one-day conference each year highlighting not only corn fuel but also wood, wind, solar, waste vegetable oil, methane and other renewal sources for heat, electricity, fuel, refrigeration, ventilation, and other farm uses. Speakers with expertise in these areas (both farmers and researchers) will be part of the program, as well as speakers that will present information on state and federal programs that assist with funds to help growers make the transition to sustainable energy sources. One on-farm meeting each year will highlight a shelled corn producer and a nearby greenhouse grower who burns corn.

At UMass Extension, the team that is managing this project includes vegetable specialists Ruth Hazzard and Andy Cavanagh, floriculture specialist Tina Smith, livestock/dairy specialist Masoud Hashemi, and agricultural economist Dan Lass. We also have a group of advisors with expertise relevant to the project. This project is supported by funding from the Agricultural Innovation Center, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, University of Massachusetts College of Natural Resources and the Environment, and UMass Extension.

This Shelled Corn Project intends to build the knowledge, the experience base and the economic linkages necessary to bring shelled corn into the marketplace as a reliable fuel source. The project will also create a sound base of information about the costs, returns and techniques to produce and burn grain corn for greenhouse heat, and will foster networks within the agricultural community for sharing information and marketing shelled corn.

We are in the information gathering and planning stages of this project right now. More content will be posted here and distributed through the VegNotes newsletter as work progresses. If you have any questions about this project, or are looking for infomation about biomass heating systems, please contact Andrew Cavanagh at acavanagh@psis.umass.edu.

If you would like to participate in this project, you can download an application form here.