Corn stover
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Corn stover consists of the leaves and stalks of maize (Zea mays ssp. mays L.) plants left in a field after harvest. It makes up about half of the yield of a crop and is similar to straw, the residue left in field after harvest of any cereal grain. Stover can be grazed as forage or collected for use as fodder but is commonly not utilized. It can also be used as a fuel for bioenergy or as feedstock for bioproducts. Maize stover, together with other lignocellulosic biomass, provides about the potential 1.3 billion tons of raw materials that could produce future fuel in the next 50 years.
In the Netherlands and Belgium large improvements on Yield are achieved by harvesting the full plant and crushing it while harvesting. The substance is primarily used as the food for cows during the winter season. It is known as "kuilmais" see also: http://www.agris.be/nl/akker/rassen/kuilfr.html ( In dutch) or http://www.maisdoolhof.com/mais/gangbaar.html
Corn stover “consists of the stalk, leaf, husk, and cob remaining in the field following the harvest of corn for grain.”1 Corn stover is very a common agricultural product in areas of large amounts of corn production. Also, “Stover may also contain some summer grasses and other weeds.”1 Corn stover is the non-grain part of harvested corn and “has low water content and is very bulky.”2 Field corn and sweet corn, two different types of maize, have relatively similar corn stover products. Corn stover is not harvested in all areas where corn is produced. In fact, “some agronomists question whether taking stover out of the field annually will have a negative impact on soil fertility and structure.”2
Uses
The uses for corn stover are growing over time. One use of corn stover pertains to corn producers who also raise cattle. Corn stover can be beneficial to some cattle producers because the “corn stover can provide a low cost feed source for mid-gestation beef cows.”3 In addition to the stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs remaining in the field, kernels of grain may also be left over from harvest. These left over kernels, along with the corn stover, serve as an additional feed source for grazing cattle. Over time, the stalks will decrease in value as feed, so it is important to graze the corn stover as soon as possible after harvest. The amount of grazing possible on a field of corn stover is “between one and two monthes of grazing per cow per acre (50 cows on 50 acres for one to two months).”3
Another recent and important use for corn stover is biomass ethanol. Biomass ethanol is “ethanol made from non-grain plant materials known as biomass.”4 Ethanol production is made possible from the large availability of corn grain. Biomass ethanol would use the corn stover from the corn crop produced in areas around ethanol plants. Corn stover, due to the relative close proximity of the corn grain produced for ethanol production, “is by far the most abundant crop residue readily available today.”4 The free accessibility to corn stover makes it a prime candidate for biomass ethanol production. Corn stover serves many purposes in today’s agricultural economy and will continue to do so in the future.
References:
1 http://www.agr.state.nc.us/drought/documents/1217andNCDACSCornStoverGuidance082707.pdf
3 http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/cornstover.htm
4 http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/29691.pdf
[edit] Composition and properties
| Component | Unit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ash | % mass dry | 8 |
| HHV | MJ/kg DAF | 19 |
[edit] See also
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