Anticipatory Technoeconomic Evaluation of Kentucky Bluegrass-Based Perennial Groundcover Implementations in Large-Scale Midwestern US Corn Production Systems

Cynthia A. Bartel (), Keri L. Jacobs, Kenneth J. Moore and D. Raj Raman
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Cynthia A. Bartel: Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Keri L. Jacobs: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Kenneth J. Moore: Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
D. Raj Raman: Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Perennial groundcover (PGC) has promise as a scalable approach to generating natural resource benefits and sustainable biofuel feedstock while preserving the high yields of annual row crop production. Partnering row crops with temporally and spatially complementary low-growing, shallow-rooted perennials, such as Kentucky bluegrass (KBG) ( Poa pratensis L.), is one example of an emerging PGC system. PGC’s ecosystem benefits can only be fully realized if commercial-scale adoption occurs, which hinges on its economic feasibility. This paper utilizes an enterprise budget framework to detail and compare the expected cost and revenue of establishing and maintaining PGC in row crop systems with standard continuous corn (SCC) ( Zea mays L.) production, including stover harvest, but excluding economic incentives for ecosystem services. Optimistic and pessimistic assumptions were used, along with Monte Carlo simulation, to characterize the uncertainty in results. In the optimistic stover market scenario, Year 1 net returns for PGC averaged USD 84/ac less than for SCC; Year 2+ net returns averaged USD 83/ac more, meaning that cost parity with SCC occurs by the second PGC system year. Without stover revenue, parity is achieved after five years. These results affirm that PGC’s economic viability is critically impacted by a groundcover’s lifespan, the yield parity with SCC, and the availability of a stover market.

Keywords: cost structure; conservation; erosion; regenerative agriculture; row crop; scalable; enterprise budget (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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