Growing a Biobased Future
Thanks to a partnership between a Memphis-based nonprofit research foundation and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, a number of West Tennessee farmers are now growing non-conventional crops that may soon be used to create everything from cooking oil to plastics to help satisfy a global demand for a wide range of refined products.
Hillary Spain, coordinator of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation’s 25Farmer Network, says select growers in 21 West Tennessee counties are participating in a program that will determine the feasibility of growing crops such as sunflowers, switchgrass and sorghum for conversion to biobased materials.
"We looked at a variety of crops for the study, and these are the three crops we settled on," says Spain. ’Our main goal is to see if the selected crops can be grown in our area. We want to see what kinds of problems exist with the crops, develop solutions and ultimately up the acreage in coming years."
Growers from across West Tennessee were selected from a field of applicants interested in participating. Through the program, farmers were compensated $500 per acre to grow one of the three crops in a 5-acre test plot.
Partnerships with industry
According to Spain, partnerships have been formed between the farmers’ network and various industries and institutions across the country to assist the growers through various stages of the development process.
Producers Co-op of Covington, Tenn., has been engaged to process harvested sunflower seed, which will then be transported to Oklahoma City to be pressed for oil. At the University of Tennessee, partnering researchers are developing cellulose ethanol technologies that will enable switchgrass to be converted to biofuel, and a means to develop a pelletized derivative of switchgrass that can be used to supplement coal.
Another partnering industry, California-based Ceres Inc., is a developer and marketer of switchgrass and high biomass sorghum, which are being grown in the Tennessee test plots. "We’re not just focusing on one crop or one end product here," Spain says. "There’s a lot of potential in a variety of products that can be produced through the harvesting and processing of these crops, including biofuels, specialized chemicals and even plastics."
Spain notes that while the process of research and development of these biomass crops and products is still early in the game, the long-range outcomes are very promising. In addition to the immediate impacts producing such crops could have on area growers, the economic opportunities that exist in potential developments such as biofuel refineries and other biobased businesses are considered great for Tennessee. "We're really looking long range here," Spain explains. "We just think there’s a lot of potential in the way of biofuel and other products developed through the research of these crops."