Modeled Impacts of Cover Crops and Vegetative Barriers on Corn Stover Availability and Soil Quality

• Published in: Bioenergy research 2014-06, Vol.7 (2), p.576-589
• Main Authors: Bonner, Ian J, Muth, David J., Jr, Koch, Joshua B, Karlen, Douglas L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 09 BIOMASS FUELS; Agricultural industry; Agricultural practices; Agriculture; Agronomy; Alternative energy sources; Analysis; Biodiesel fuels; bioenergy; bioenergy industry; Biofuels; Biomass; Biomass energy; Biomedical and Life Sciences; business enterprises; Carbon; Carbon content; Conservation practices; Corn; Corn belt; corn stover; Cover crops; Crop residues; Crop rotation; Crops; economic development; Economic growth; Environmental assessment; Environmental impact analysis; feedstocks; Harvest; harvesting; Laboratories; Land use; Land use planning; Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF; landscape planning; Life Sciences; Lignocellulose; No-tillage; Organic carbon; Organic matter; planning; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Plant Ecology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Sciences; Raw materials; soil; soil conservation; Soil erosion; soil organic carbon; Soil quality; soil resources; Soils; Stover; Studies; Sustainability; Sustainable agriculture; Sustainable energy; Sustainable harvest; Winter; Wood Science & Technology; Zea mays
• ISSN: 1939-1234; 1939-1242
• DOI: 10.1007/s12155-014-9423-y

Environmentally benign, economically viable, and socially acceptable agronomic strategies are needed to launch a sustainable lignocellulosic biofuel industry. Our objective was to demonstrate a landscape planning process that can ensure adequate supplies of corn (Zea mays L.) stover feedstock while protecting and improving soil quality. The Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) was used to develop land use strategies that were then scaled up for five U.S. Corn Belt states (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota) to illustrate the impact that could be achieved. Our results show an annual sustainable stover supply of 194 million Mg without exceeding soil erosion T values or depleting soil organic carbon [i.e., soil conditioning index (SCI) > 0] when no-till, winter cover crop, and vegetative barriers were incorporated into the landscape. A second, more rigorous conservation target was set to enhance soil quality while sustainably harvesting stover. By requiring erosion to be  0, the annual sustainable quantity of harvestable stover dropped to148 million Mg. Examining removal rates by state and soil resource showed that soil capability class and slope generally determined the effectiveness of the three conservation practices and the resulting sustainable harvest rate. This emphasizes that sustainable biomass harvest must be based on subfield management decisions to ensure soil resources are conserved or enhanced, while providing sufficient biomass feedstock to support the economic growth of bioenergy enterprises.