Permsteading.com

When I was at the Pa Farm Show I spoke to the Penn State Extension agents about Giant Miscanthus Grass. They were pretty high on the idea of using it here. The Giant Miscanthus does not produce seeds, so it is not invasive like Bamboo. It is planted from rhizomes and spreads from the root. It produces about 3 time the ethanol per acre compared to corn , it has a great Bio-mass, improves the soil, and is a perennial so once its planted it produces for maybe 20 years with out any more input. The markets for it here in Pa are still very limited, so Farmers are reluctant to plant it and be forced to sell to maybe only one facility as a market. That is a Bad situation for the farmer. They are trying to get more plants build here locally to produce ethanol, or use it for making press board 2 X 4s for building material. Here is a video on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM42EScO_Uw

I was impressed by the grass. The one draw back that I could see is that it is expensive and labor intensive to plant it, but it comes back every year once planted which sort of makes up for that draw back. The Rhizomes are between .10 and .25 cents each depending on volume .

Here is a video about what they are doing in Mississippi and Georgia. They seem to be as high on this grass as the Pa Extension people where.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-1P2srk1nU

This article talks about Giant Miscanthus as a Bio-Fuel crop and gives the advantages as well as the disadvantages of the grass. I think it has real potential for use as a fuel crop.

http://www.extension.org/pages/26625/mi ... production