As global demand for bio-based products continues to rise, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s Ag Decision Maker has released a new resource to help Iowa producers evaluate their role in this emerging market. The publication, “The Cost of Producing Herbaceous Feedstocks for Biomass and Biorenewable Products,” along with its accompanying digital decision tool, provides a detailed economic framework for the production and delivery of biomass.

While materials such as corn stover have traditional uses in livestock bedding, new markets are focusing on advanced applications, including anaerobic digestion for renewable natural gas, pyrolysis for bio-oil and biochar and fermentation for sustainable aviation fuel. To help farmers navigate these opportunities, the new resource focuses on three primary feedstocks: corn stover, winter cereal rye (ryelage) and prairie plantings.

“Experts from agronomic, engineering and natural resources fields across the university collaborated to develop this tool. It provides a way for farmers, project developers and researchers to consider and compare the various elements of cost associated with herbaceous feedstocks,” said Jim Jordahl, regenerative agriculture project analyst with the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State. “We assessed corn stover for which cost information is well established, and the more novel herbaceous biomass sources of cereal rye and prairie plantings.”  

Decision support tool

Also available is a customizable spreadsheet that allows users to estimate costs specific to their own operations. The tool divides expenses into two critical categories:

  • Farm-Level Production Costs: including seed, fertilizer and the cost of nutrient removal from the soil.

  • Harvest and Aggregation Costs: covering mowing, baling and the transport of material to a bioprocessing facility.

Producers can use “Suggested Values” or enter their own data to calculate a total cost per dry ton. The tool also provides estimated energy content for each feedstock if processed in an anaerobic digester, allowing for a direct comparison of their potential value in energy markets.

Strategic land use and sustainability

The publication also highlights the environmental benefits of these crops. For example, strategically placing prairie plantings on consistently low-yielding areas of a field can significantly reduce erosion and nutrient transport while providing wildlife habitat. The tool helps farmers see the financial side of converting marginal land into a productive source of biomass.

The full resource and decision tool are available through Iowa State’s Ag Decision Maker website.