Farmers' perspectives for the development of a bioenergy industry in Ireland

Abstract

A survey of Irish farmers was conducted to identify farmers' opinions on energy crop production and to characterize potential adopters of energy crop cultivation in Ireland. One hundred and seventy-two surveys were completed from 25 counties in Ireland. Miscanthus (48%) and grass (30%) were the preferred crops for adoption of energy crop production. Potential adopters described themselves as having a significantly greater level of knowledge of energy crop production compared with other respondents. The results indicate that lack of interest in adopting energy crop production may be due to lack of knowledge regarding the economic benefits of adoption and the variety of energy crops available for cultivation in Ireland. The establishment of long-term contracts and government schemes were identified as important requirements for the development of bioenergy crop production in Ireland. Energy crop adoption was not limited to farmers undertaking specific farm enterprises. Farmers were motivated to adopt energy crop production for both economic and environmental benefits. These results are the first to provide valuable information on the perspectives of potential adopters of bioenergy crop production in Ireland for the promotion and implementation of a national bioenergy industry. Policy requirements and outreach strategies to encourage adoption of energy crops by agricultural producers are suggested.

Prospects for arable farm uptake of Short Rotation Coppice willow and miscanthus in England

“…For SRC, 87.7% responded that they would not be willing, 11.9% responded that they would be willing and 0.4% noted that they already grew this crop. These results concur with evidence from Ireland where miscanthus was also identified to be of greater interest to farmers than SRC [22]. Analysing the data for the two crops together, 10.7% of farmers would be willing to grow both crops and 79.9% of farmers would not be willing to grow either crop.…”

“…Whilst it has been noted that there are no absolute barriers to bioenergy in the EU, it is the non-technical challenges that are more likely to hold back production of suitable feedstocks [24]. A survey of 172 farmers in Ireland, from a wide range of farm types, showed that over 70% of farmers were interested in energy crops although the authors suggested that the method of dissemination for the survey had encouraged those interested in DECs to respond [22]. A motivation for adoption was the perceived profits for DECs.…”

Energy requirements and environmental impacts associated with the production of short rotation willow (Salix sp.) chip in Ireland

“…Rosenqvist, 2011). A survey carried out by Augustenborg et al (2012) has shown high willingness of farmers to adopt energy crops in Ireland, with over 70% of respondents indicating interest in producing energy crops.…”

Economic evaluation of Miscanthus production – A review

“…As Miscanthus is a perennial crop, this lifespan differs greatly from those of traditional crops which are cultivated from year to year providing the farmer with the opportunity to reallocate the land frequently to different crops. The long commitment of land to one single plant does not only limit the entrepreneurial freedom of the farmer which is seen as a major barrier to Miscanthus adoption by 7 of the reviewed papers [23,42,48,54,[56][57][58]. It also implies the fact that Miscanthus needs a minimum period to break even with the initial investment costs.…”

“…Establishment of the plantation. The high upfront establishment costs are quoted as a major impediment for Miscanthus adoption [9,45,58,62]. However, the supply with detailed information about establishment cost is scarce in the examined literature.…”