Plant Materials Program
 “The Plant Materials Program and its cooperators have contributed the bulk of the material and technology now used in ecosystem

restoration and are our foundation for meeting conservation challenges of the future.”

-- D.T. Booth and T.A. Jones, Native Plants Journal

Plant Materials Used for Biofuel 

Biofuel is any fuel derived from a recently living 

organism, such as a plant. Biomass produced from 

plants is processed into liquid fuel (ethanol and 

biodiesel), burned to generate electricity, or 

chemically converted to syn-gas. A variety of 

agricultural crops and residue such as corn, corn 

stover and soybeans are harvested to be processed 

into biofuels. 

Switchgrass was one the first perennial grasses 

evaluated for use as a biofuel. 

Native warm season prairie grasses and short 

rotational woody species have great potential to 

provide biofuels. Switchgrass has many 

conservation uses, but its high yields and biomass 

quality, seed availability of productive cultivars, 

and wide range of adaptation make it a prime 

candidate for integration into farming operations as 

a biofuel crop. Poplars, willows, sycamore and 

sweetgum are examples of fast-growing trees and 

shrubs which can be planted in production 

agriculture and harvested every 3 -10 years for 

biofuel production. 

The Plant Materials Program of the USDA Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has been 

collecting, evaluating, selecting, and releasing 

cultivars of switchgrass since the 1940’s for soil 

conservation, livestock forage and wildlife. These 

cultivars such as ‘Alamo’, ‘Kanlow’ and ‘Cave-inRock’, which are products of the plant materials 

program, are being utilized as biofuel crops in the 

Northern Great Plains and southeastern United 

States. Yields in excess of 10 tons/acre are not 

uncommon for this native warm season grass. 

‘Cave-in Rock’ is being used in combination with 

coal to generate electricity as part of the Chariton 

Valley Biomass Project near Ottumwa, Iowa. 

Additionally, several Plant Materials Centers 

cooperated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s 

Biomass Feed Stock Development Program by 

conducting regional testing trials and management 

practices for biomass production and evaluation. 

Cooperative Biomass Studies at 

Plant Materials Centers 

Plant Materials Centers in Coffeeville, Mississippi; 

Booneville, Arkansas; Knox City, Texas and 

Manhattan, Kansas served as regional testing 

locations for multiple year studies comparing 

production and persistence of commercially 

available switchgrass cultivars to new selections 

developed by Oklahoma State University and 

Texas A&M University. 

Early summer growth of switchgrass 

cultivars and breeding lines at the 

Booneville, Arkansas PMC. 
Plant Materials Centers in Pullman, Washington, 

Aberdeen, Idaho and Lockeford, California are 

working with university scientists and the USDA 

Agricultural Research Service to evaluate previous 

and recently released plants from their respective 

centers as future biofuel crops in the western 

United States. The Big Flats Plant Materials 

Center, Corning, NY in cooperation with the State 

University of New York, Syracuse, tested hybrid 

poplar selections for growth and other biofuel 

qualities as an energy source for the northeastern 

United States. 

The East Texas Plant Materials Center and the 

Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture 

at Stephen F. Austin State University, 

Nacogdoches, Texas are evaluating the biofuel 

qualities of black locust, green ash, sweetgum, 

sycamore, cottonwood and loblolly pine in a short 

rotational woody cropping system. The Aberdeen 

(ID) PMC is evaluating accessions of poplar for 

production potential. 

East Texas Plant Materials Center staff measures 

short rotation woody plants such as cotton wood 

and sycamore for potential energy crops. 

In an on-going effort to establish the best 

management practice for maximizing yield and 

biomass quality of ‘Alamo’ switchgrass, the Jamie 

L. Whitten Plant Materials Center in Coffeeville, 

Mississippi compared a one (early fall) and two 

harvest (mid summer and early fall) system. Their 

study found a one harvest system consistently 

produces higher yields than the two harvest system 

(9.4 vs. 7.5 tons/acre) in northern Mississippi. 

The Bismarck Plant Materials Center, in 

cooperation with South Dakota State University, 

is evaluating prairie cordgrass as a biofuel crop 

for the northern Great Plain region. 

Future Studies 

The Plant Materials Program and their cooperating 

partners will continue to identify potentially new 

herbaceous and woody biofuel species that can be 

integrated into typical farming operations. 

Management response studies will be conducted to 

verify selections or improve production guidelines 

on current and new biofuel crops. 

About Us 

The USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program consists of a 

network of 27 Plant Materials Centers (PMCs) and Plant 

Materials Specialists located throughout the United States. 

For over 70 years, PMCs and Specialists have provided 

essential and effective plant solutions for critical habitats, 

environmental concerns, management practices, and key 

farm and ranch programs. 

For more information, visit: 

http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov 

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov 

Helping People Help the Land... 

The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

June 2007