Grow crops to burn for fuel, or for food? Valdosta City Council member James Wright brings up an article about farmers growing plants for biomass fuel. These things get passed around by council members, and I’m pretty sure this one that came to me indirectly is it: November 12, 2010 – Incentivizing Renewable Biomass Production, by New Energy Farms, Leamington, Ontario. What they’re mainly recommending is Miscanthus, which is a genus of clump grass.

The above video was already posted as part of
After all the citizens left –Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011.

Now call me old-fashioned, but I prefer local farmers growing food crops for local consumption and export. I do grow clump grasses, including big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), which are recommended by USDA and UGA as Native Warm Season Grasses, but I grow them for wildlife cover and for the health of my longleaf forests. I especially like wiregrass (Aristida stricta) which really is native; that’s where I get mine: it’s always been growing in my woods. Wiregrass in particular along with pine needles helps fuel my prescribed burns every few years (more about that later). Wiregrass is also the source of the name for the Wiregrass Region we live in.

The economic point James Wright seems to be making is that he’s most interested in jobs for local people. I’m all for that. I just think there are better ways. As you can see local elected officials are listening for ideas. Let’s provide them some ideas for local jobs.

Videos by John S. Quarterman and Gretchen Quarterman of the regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 Jan 2011, for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

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