In all the ballyhoo about biofuels, why just the focus on corn, switchgrass and wood chips? What I propose is using an intact, biodiverse stand of tallgrass prairie; an actual restoration of the many and various plots of the Conservation Reserve Program that have been proposed for elimination to grow more corn. In all the ballyhoo about biofuels, why just the focus on corn, switchgrass and wood chips? What I propose is using an intact, biodiverse stand of tallgrass prairie; an actual...

Drabenstott sees regionally branded, specialty food products, agri-tourism and organic produce as opportunities waiting to be seized in East Central Indiana. He advised against a "smokestack-chasing, single-county, single-community focus" and warned that loyalty to commodities like corn and auto parts would result in consolidation and sluggish innovation. The Arrowhead region of Minnesota, which has relied for more than a century on tourism, timber and iron mining -- the latter two...

energy efficiency?: Enact high performance building codes for new building construction and renovations Increase minimum fuel-efficiency standards for all new vehicles Provide long-term, low-interest loans to address high up front costs of efficiency improvements Increase minimum efficiency standards for major appliances and computers. energy efficiency?: Enact high performance building codes for new building construction and renovations Increase minimum fuel-efficiency standards for all...

A great advantage to using these crops for energy production is that they grow quickly and some do not have to be replanted after harvest. But corn and soybeans may soon have to share the spotlight with crops grown solely for their ability to produce energy, including switchgrass, hybrid poplar (cottonwood) trees and hybrid willow trees. What did those 70 million bison eat all those years ago? A large part of their diet consisted of millions and millions of acres of tall grasses native to...

Apr 16 2007 To continue our discussion of cool versus warm weather crops let us consider the summer, or warm season crops as vegetables that require both soil warmth to germinate and long days and high temperatures, both day and night to form and ripen fruit. Apr 16 2007 To continue our discussion of cool versus warm weather crops let us consider the summer, or warm season crops as vegetables that require both soil warmth to germinate and long days and high temperatures, both day and night...