Days Available for Harvesting Lignocellulosic Biomass

A reasonably precise estimate of the number of harvest days is necessary to determine the investment in harvest machines required to support a lignocellulosic biorefinery. This study was undertaken to determine probability distributions for the number of suitable field work days per month for harvesting perennial grasses such as switchgrass.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Days available for harvesting switchgrass and the cost to deliver switchgrass to a biorefinery

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to estimate the number of suitable field workdays per month in which switchgrass can be harvested in Oklahoma at different probability levels. This study also sought to determine the effect of the number of workdays on the cost to deliver a flow of feedstock to a biorefinery. A soil moisture balance model, drying model of cut grasses, and empirical CDF were used to determine the number of field workdays for mowing and baling operations at different probability levels. A mixed integer mathematical programming model was used to determine the optimal biorefinery location, the quantity of biomass feedstock, monthly harvest and storage quantities, optimal number of mowing and raking-baling-stacking harvest machines, and the cost to deliver feedstock to a biorefinery.Findings and Conclusions: Harvest cost depends on the number of required harvest machines, which are constrained by the number of field workdays during the harvest window. The number of workdays for mowing and baling varies across months and regions. At the 95 percent probability level, October is the month with the least amount of time for baling switchgrass (average nine days). The southeast region of Oklahoma, which on average receives the most precipitation, has the least number of available workdays (174 mowing days and 115 baling days for a year). This information was used to determine the investment required in harvest machines to provide lignocellulosic biomass to a biorefinery. The optimal number of harvest units was 48 for mowing and 20 for raking-baling-stacking, which requires an average investment in harvest machines of 11.2 million for a 2,000 dry tons per day biorefinery. The estimated cost to deliver feedstock was 49.7 per ton and harvest cost was 17.0. Under the assumption of only three days available in each month as workdays, the estimated cost to deliver feedstock and harvest cost were 141 and 109, respectively. Ignoring or using an incorrect estimate of the number of workdays would result in incorrect feedstock cost estimates and an incorrect estimate of the investment required in harvest machinery

AJAE Appendix: Challenges to the Development of a Dedicated Energy Crop

The material contained herein is supplementary to the article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 89, Number 5, December 2007.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Yield and Production Costs for Three Potential Dedicated Energy Crops in Mississippi and Oklahoma Environments

The objective of this paper is to determine production costs of switchgrass, eastern gammagrass, and giant miscanthus using Mississippi and Oklahoma data. Production costs were computed using a standard enterprise budgeting approach by species and method of harvest. Results indicate cost difference across species and method of harvest.Yield and Cost, biomass species, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Meat Demand in South Korea: An Application of the Restricted Source-Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System Model

The first difference version of the restricted source-differentiated almost ideal demand system is used to estimate South Korean meat demand. The results of this study indicate that the United States has the most to gain from an increase in the size of the South Korean imported meat market in terms of its beef exports, while South Korea has the most to gain from this expansion in the pork market. Moreover, the results indicate that the United States has a competitive advantage to Australia in the South Korean beef market. Results of this study have implications for U.S. meat exports in this ever-changing policy environment

Days Available for Harvesting Lignocellulosic Biomass

A reasonably precise estimate of the number of harvest days is necessary to determine the investment in harvest machines required to support a lignocellulosic biorefinery. This study was undertaken to determine probability distributions for the number of suitable field work days per month for harvesting perennial grasses such as switchgrass

Meat Demand in South Korea: An Application of the Restricted Source-Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System Model

The first difference version of the restricted source-differentiated almost ideal demand system is used to estimate South Korean meat demand. The results of this study indicate that the United States has the most to gain from an increase in the size of the South Korean imported meat market in terms of its beef exports, while South Korea has the most to gain from this expansion in the pork market. Moreover, the results indicate that the United States has a competitive advantage to Australia in the South Korean beef market. Results of this study have implications for U.S. meat exports in this ever-changing policy environment.AIDS, source differentiation, South Korean meat demand, U.S. competitiveness, Demand and Price Analysis, D12, Q17,

AJAE Appendix: Challenges to the Development of a Dedicated Energy Crop

The material contained herein is supplementary to the article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 89, Number 5, December 2007

Yield and Production Costs for Three Potential Dedicated Energy Crops in Mississippi and Oklahoma Environments

The objective of this paper is to determine production costs of switchgrass, eastern gammagrass, and giant miscanthus using Mississippi and Oklahoma data. Production costs were computed using a standard enterprise budgeting approach by species and method of harvest. Results indicate cost difference across species and method of harvest