Miscanthus cannot be grown from seed; new fields must be made from existing fields by separating the plant into rhizomes then transplanting them to a new field. This is the main issue with Miscanthus as the need to plant rhizomes raises problems. Firstly you can only source the rhizomes from certain places therefore the cost to acquire them can be quite high. Also because each rhizome has to be transplanted the setup costs can also be high. Finally the main issue is once the crop is in place due to the high initial setup costs, crop rotation cannot take place. Therefore the landowner is essentially tied into Miscanthus for a long period of time.

If you compared Miscanthus to Industrial Hemp there are many more advantages to Hemp. Because Industrial Hemp is grown by seed and only grows for 3 months of the year the setup and maintenance costs are much lower. Industrial Hemp can be used from more things, including food, fuel, rope, clothes, plastics and more. Finally Industrial Hemp, as it is grown by seed, can be part of a crop rotation system. Giving the landowner the ability to change to the crop, which is needed at that time.

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Miscanthus as a crop can be grown in quite a large range of areas, including Europe, Asia and North America. The plant is more suited to temperate climates, where in warmer drier climates it is more suitable to grow sugar cane instead of miscanthus. So really Miscanthus is more suited to cooler and wetter climates.

Miscanthus can grow in marginal soils, however obviously the more productive the soil the more productive the crop. So the balance has to be made between the fertilizer input costs for the productivity gains.

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Miscanthus can be harvested with standard equipment, but when is the best time to harvest Miscanthus? Well basically once the plant has turned brown and the leaves have fallen of the crop, and back to the soil. The reasons for this are:

Nitrogen
Nitrogen is an unwanted element in a fuel source as it causes complications during the combustion process. The plant also needs Nitrogen to grow, so by letting the leaves die off and return to the soil reduces the fertilizer input the crop requires.

Moisture
As the Miscanthus goes from green to brown it also dries out. Obviously as a fuel it needs to be dry, so harvesting a dry fuel reduces the energy inputs required compared with other resources to turn it into a viable efficient fuel source. Also with regards to pellet production the material needs to be dry, for example between 10-20%. Miscanthus at harvest time is between 10-20%, so is ready to be upgraded into pellets.

Corrosion
The video does not mention the corrosion aspects of the fuel, but it definitely should be considered. Miscanthus is more corrosive than say burning wood, and depending on when you harvest the crop depends on how corrosive it is. Harvesting a crop after winter leaching or washing removes some of the corrosive elements.

Harvest Window
The window between the crop dying down and next springs growth is between November and April. Again to reduce the corrosion elements the crop should be harvested as late as possible. However the longer the crop is left the lower the tonne per acre because of crop loses.

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