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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407143
Research Project: Evaluating Management Strategies to Increase Agroecosystem Productivity, Resilience, and Viability

Location: Agroecosystem Management Research

Title: Perennializing marginal croplands: Going back to the future to mitigate climate change with resilient biobased feedstocks

Author
item Ramirez, Salvador
item Schmer, Marty
item Jin, Virginia
item Mitchell, Robert - Rob
item Stewart, Catherine
item PARSONS, JAY - University Of Nebraska
item REDFEARN, DAREN - University Of Nebraska
item QUINN, JOHN - Argonne National Laboratory
item Varvel, Gary
item Vogel, Kenneth
item Follett, Ronald

Submitted to: Frontiers in Energy Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/26/2023
Publication Date: 1/15/2024
Citation: Ramirez II, S., Schmer, M.R., Jin, V.L., Mitchell, R., Stewart, C.E., Parsons, J., Redfearn, D.D., Quinn, J., Varvel, G.E., Vogel, K.P., Follett, R.F. 2024. Perennializing marginal croplands: Going back to the future to mitigate climate change with resilient biobased feedstocks. Frontiers in Energy Research. 11:1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1272877.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1272877

Interpretive Summary: Growing perennial grasses for bioenergy on marginal cropland may be a better option in terms of profitability and sustainability than growing annual row crops. Research from one of the oldest bioenergy experiments in North America suggests that growing switchgrass under optimal management has the capacity to produce higher biomass than a continuous corn system while improving soil properties and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This experiment has been a catalysis for subsequent research on bioenergy feedstocks and how to implement perennial grasses into existing agricultural landscapes.

Technical Abstract: Diversifying cropping systems and landscapes can increase climate resiliency and adaptive capacity. Crops in a multifunctional landscape must be matched to land capabilities and annual row crops may not be the best use for marginal croplands. One way to create multifunctional landscapes and return marginal cropland to an economically and environmentally sustainable production system—while concomitantly achieving a global, low-carbon economy—is to incorporate perennial feedstocks grown on these marginal lands. The prominence of marginal cropland throughout the Great Plains and Midwest USA indicates the short-term focus of converting perennial grasslands to cropland. In this perspective paper, we will demonstrate the feasibility of doing so using one of the oldest bioenergy-specific field experiment in North America and evaluate future research needs. A long-term corn (Zea mays L.) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) field trial under differing harvest strategies and nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates was established in 1998 in eastern Nebraska. This study has increased our understanding of optimal management regimes for the development of sustainable, resilient, and reliable bioenergy feedstock and has been a catalyst for other bioenergy projects that have led to significant advancements to our understanding of growing and managing biobased feedstocks on marginal cropland. Here, we synthesize research from this long-term experiment and identify future research and knowledge gaps that still exist to meet the challenges of climate mitigation and energy resilience.