Establishing Perennial Bioenergy Crops Using Companion Crops

Companion crops can add income when used for establishing perennial forage crops. Jacob B. Jungers, from University of Minnesota, and his team studied the companion crops' effect on biomass yield of different bioenergy crop types. They evaluated the effect through biomass harvests in the seeding year as well as the next two harvest years at four environments.

Three companion crops, oat (Avena sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and Canada wildrye (Elymus canadensis L.), produced harvestable biomass in the seeding year while also suppressing weeds and maintaining the biomass yield of the main crop. No specific companion crop and bioenergy crop combination consistently yielded more perennial biomass.

Companion crops can supply marketable biomass during the first year when planted with perennial grasses without affecting the latter's biomass yields in the following years. Cereal grain companion crops could be more profitable for producers, depending on their markets.