Research on how land suitability affects yields and breakeven prices for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) grown as a bioenergy crop is lacking for the U.S. Southeast. Data from a 3‐yr multilocation experiment at Milan, TN, were analyzed to determine the influence of soil drainage and landscape position on switchgrass yield and farm‐gate breakeven price. Plots were seeded in 2004 with ‘Alamo’ at 2.8, 5.6, 8.4, 11.2, and 14.0 kg ha−1 pure live seed (PLS). Plots were split in 2005 and N was applied at 0, 67, 134, and 201 kg N ha−1. Farm‐gate breakeven prices for 5‐ and 10‐yr production contracts were determined by calculating unit production costs from enterprise budgets that varied by input level and yield. Maximum yields occurred at 67 kg N ha−1 on well‐drained soils and at higher N levels on less‐well‐drained soils. Yield response to seeding rate (SR) was insignificant or small relative to other factors. Averaged across treatments, the well‐drained upland location suitable for row crops had the largest yield (17.7 Mg ha−1) and lowest breakeven price ($46 Mg−1) for a 10‐yr period. In contrast, the poorly drained flood plain location considered marginal yielded lowest (8.5 Mg ha−1) and had the highest breakeven price ($69 Mg−1). Breakeven prices were sensitive to yield, N price, and fuel price. Results suggest a lower breakeven price for switchgrass in the U.S. Southeast as compared with other U.S. regions, mainly due to high yields for the Alamo variety.

Integration of energy crops into agricultural landscapes could promote sustainability if they are placed in ways that foster multiple ecosystem services and mitigate ecosystem disservices from existing crops. We conducted a modeling study to investigate how replacing annual energy crops with perennial energy crops along Wisconsin waterways could affect a variety of provisioning and regulating ecosystem services. We found that a switch from continuous corn production to perennial-grass production decreased annual income provisioning by 75%, although it increased annual energy provisioning by 33%, decreased annual phosphorous loading to surface water by 29%, increased below-ground carbon sequestration by 30%, decreased annual nitrous oxide emissions by 84%, increased an index of pollinator abundance by an average of 11%, and increased an index of biocontrol potential by an average of 6%. We expressed the tradeoffs between income provisioning and other ecosystem services as benefit-cost ratios. Benefit-cost ratios averaged 12.06 GJ of additional net energy, 0.84 kg of avoided phosphorus pollution, 18.97 Mg of sequestered carbon, and 1.99 kg of avoided nitrous oxide emissions for every $1,000 reduction in income. These ratios varied spatially, from 2- to 70-fold depending on the ecosystem service. Benefit-cost ratios for different ecosystem services were generally correlated within watersheds, suggesting the presence of hotspots – watersheds where increases in multiple ecosystem services would come at lower-than-average opportunity costs. When assessing the monetary value of ecosystem services relative to existing conservation programs and environmental markets, the overall value of enhanced services associated with adoption of perennial energy crops was far lower than the opportunity cost. However, when we monitized services using estimates for the social costs of pollution, the value of enhanced services far exceeded the opportunity cost. This disparity between recoverable costs and social value represents a fundamental challenge to expansion of perennial energy crops and sustainable agricultural landscapes.

Purpose -The US Department of Energy has a goal to make ethanol from biomass cost competitive with petroleum by 2012. Feedstock procurement is expected to represent a significant portion of the operating costs for a refinery that produces ethanol from biomass such as switchgrass. Thus, costeffective feedstock logistics will be a key factor for the future development of a capital intensive cellulosic ethanol industry. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the cost of various logistic methods of switchgrass production, harvesting, storing, and transportation. Design/methodology/approach -This study applied enterprise budgeting and geographical information system (GIS) software to analyze the costs of three logistic methods of acquiring switchgrass feedstock for a 25 million gallon per year refinery. Procurement methods included traditional large round and rectangular bale harvest and storage systems and satellite preprocessing facilities using field-chopped material. The analysis evaluated tradeoffs in operating costs, dry matter losses during storage, and investment requirements among the three systems. Findings -Results suggest that the preprocessing system outperformed the conventional bale harvest methods in the delivered costs of switchgrass. Practical implications -The cost savings in harvest, transportation, and dry matter losses for the preprocessing system offset their extensive capital costs and generated cost advantages over the conventional methods. Social implications -The traditional round bale system has a higher overall investment cost, may not be the most cost-effective way to procure switchgrass feedstock for a refinery, and may limit farmer participation in the feedstock value chain. Originality/value -GIS methods combined with enterprise budgeting can be useful tools for evaluating investment in feedstock supply chain infrastructure.

Second‐generation bioenergy feedstocks stand poised to become a key component of the nation's agricultural and energy sectors, yet few studies have examined farm supply response using survey information. We use contingent valuation data from farmers in southwestern Wisconsin to develop ex ante supply estimates for two prospective feedstocks—corn stover and switchgrass—in terms of farmers' extensive and intensive acreage decisions. Supply response is found to be price inelastic and spatially fragmented, making widespread production unlikely in the near‐term. However, heterogeneity in farmer reservation prices suggests that agglomerations or “hot spots” of feedstock supply could arise at local or regional levels.