@article{ea2f33e76ec4445fb27bc5c62ebbc1ca,
title = "Approximately 15% of Miscanthus yield is lost at current commercial cutting heights in Iowa",
abstract = "Various works have quantitatively characterized the effects of environmental and management factors on Miscanthus (Formula presented.) giganteus Greef et Deu (mxg) yield and, therefore, anticipated land requirement per unit production. However, little work has addressed the effects of cutting height, which may significantly contribute to the difference between the standing aboveground biomass at harvest (i.e., biological yield) and harvested yield. This study quantitatively characterized the effect of cutting height using a replicated nitrogen trial of a 5-year-old mxg stand in southeast Iowa and related this information to observations of cutting height in nearby commercial fields. Nitrogen fertilizer did not significantly change the relationship of the stem segment mass to length, and overall, a 1-cm stem segment contributes 0.5% of the total stem biomass within the bottom 44 cm of the stem. This results in an average harvest loss of 15% of the aboveground standing biomass when cutting at 30 cm, typically seen in commercial mxg fields in eastern Iowa. Cutting height should be considered when accurately predicting commercial mxg harvest yields and changes in soil organic carbon in a commercial mxg agroecosystem.",
author = "Bryan Petersen and Emran, {Shah Al} and Fernando Miguez and Emily Heaton and Andy VanLoocke",
note = "This work was funded by the DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program under Award Number DE-SC0018420). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of\u00A0Energy. The authors would like to thank Klark Telleen, operator of the forage chopper used to harvest mxg in eastern Iowa, for welcoming us to witness and learn about the commercial harvest operation. Thank you to the landowners for allowing us access to their field for measurements. We appreciate AgGrow Tech for helping us coordinate our sampling with landowners and the harvest operations. We would also like to thank Jacob Studt and Nicholas Boersma for developing some sampling\u00A0protocols. Open access funding provided by the Iowa State University Library. This work was funded by the DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program under Award Number DE\u2010SC0018420). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of Energy.",
year = "2025",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1002/agg2.70039",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "8",
journal = "Agrosystems, Geosciences and Environment",
issn = "2639-6696",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.",
number = "1",
}