Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The service provider for the conference call had technical difficulties which resulted in some callers not being able to join the conference. The possibility of submitting a grant was discussed when a request for proposal is announced, likely next year. The time and location for the next meeting was discussed and the consensus was that we meet in conjunction with the ASA-CSSA annual meeting in Long Beach, CA Nov 2-5, 2014. It was requested that publications and other activities for the fiscal year be collected and entered into the annual report.

Members of this WERA group submitted a USDA AFRI Cap grant 2013-03845 Optimizing Crop Portfolios for Food, Forage, and Second Generation (2G) Biofuels Feedstock Production in the Northern Great Plains and Pacific NW. Dr. Berti, NDSU, led this effort which was reviewed in the summary from the review panel: This is a very ambitious project that will be directed at North Dakota State University (NDSU) that enlists the collaboration of 24 researchers from eight other universities, two USDA-ARS laboratories, seven commercial partners, two Hispanic serving institutions, and a stakeholder advisory panel. The five broad goals include: 1) germplasm enhancement of three species; 2) integrated cropping systems for both the NC and Inland PNW; 3) generation of data and fuel samples with a new crop oil conversion process; 4) determination of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of biofuel value chains in both regions; and 5) development interest in high school, undergraduate, and graduate student interested in biofuels. In addition to this they intend to optimize crop portfolios to ensure sustainable production biofuels in both regions. Synthesis Comments by Review Panel: This proposal is supported by an extremely strong team of researchers, extension specialists, and educators. The management plan for this complex project includes five co-PI's which will help with the day-to-day manage each of the five objectives. The extension activities of several of the other PI's will also enhance the potential for grower adoption of these crops and production strategies. The Stakeholder Advisory Panel will also help keep the project on target and improve the visibility of this project at the production and processing level in the industry. The budget was well balanced across both supporting institutions and by category. Perhaps the only weak point of the budget was the request for $43,500 for International Travel including $20,000 for an external evaluation from Europe and $3,500 for the winter nursery in Chile. The proposal would have been stronger with a more focused approach both geographically and across specific objectives. It was a little strange to see the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez and California State Polytechnic - Pomona being targeted for minority student recruitment. This is the second of other grants focusing on oil seed and cellulosic biofuel grants aimed at production and conversion to assist in meeting the national RFS2 biofuel goals.

Larson, Steven R., Kevin B. Jensen, Joseph G. Robins, and Blair L. Waldron. 2014. Genes and Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Biomass Yield and Forage Quality Traits in Perennial Wildrye. Crop Sci. 54:116 (2014). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2013.04.0261 Gao, J., K. D. Thelen, and X. Hao. 2013. Life cycle analysis of corn harvest strategies for bioethanol production. Agron J. 105:705-712. doi:10.2134/agronj2012.0420. Smith, S.L., K.D. Thelen, and S.J. MacDonald. 2013. Yield and quality analyses of bioenergy crops grown on a regulatory brownfield. Biomass and BioEnergy. 49:123-130. Zegada-Lizarazu, W., D. Parrish, M.T. Berti, and A. Monti. 2013. Dedicated crops for advanced biofuels: consistent and diverging agronomic points of view between the USA and the EU-27, Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining online DOI:10.1002/bbb.1430. Heaton, E. L.A. Schulte, M.T. Berti, H. Langeveld, W. Zegada-Lizarazu, D. Parrish, and A. Monti. 2013. Managing a second-generation crop portfolio through sustainable intensification: Examples from the USA and EU. Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining. online DOI:10.1002/bbb.1429 Anfinrud, R., L. Cihacek, B.L. Johnson, Y. Ji, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Sorghum and kenaf biomass yield and quality response to nitrogen fertilization in the northern Great Plains of the USA. Ind. Crops Prod. 50:159-165. Kamireddy, S.R., J. Li, S. Abbina, M.T. Berti, M. Tucker, and Y. Ji. 2013. Converting forage sorghum and sunnhemp into biofuels through dilute acid pretreatment. Ind. Crops Prod. 49:598-69. Berti, M.T., S.R. Kamireddy, and Y. Ji. 2013. Row spacing affects biomass yield and composition of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as a lignocellulosic feedstock for bioenergy. J. Sustainable Bioenergy Systems 3: 68-73. Kamireddy, S.R., J. Degenstein, Y. Ji, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of kenaf as a potential source for lignocellulosic biofuel and green chemicals. Current Organic Chemistry 17(15):1624-1632. Berti, M.T., and B.L. Johnson. 2013. Switchgrass establishment as affected by seeding depth and soil type. Ind. Crops Prod. 41:289-293. Monono, E.M., P.E. Nyren, M.T. Berti, and S.W. Pryor. 2013. Variability in biomass yield, chemical composition, and ethanol potential of individual and mixed herbaceous biomass species grown in North Dakota. Ind. Crops Prod. 41:331-339. Watrud, L.S., J.R. Reichman, M.A. Smith, E.H. Lee, J.D. Jastrow, M.D. Casler, H.P. Collins, S.C. Fransen, R.B. Mitchell, V.N. Owens, B.Bean, W.L. Rooney, and G.A. King. 2012. Chemistry and microbial functional diversity differences in biofuel crop and grassland soils in multiple geographies. BioEnergy Res. DOI 10.1007/s12155-012-9279-y Proceedings publications Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R.W. Gesch, D. Samarappuli, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and S.R. Kamireddy. 2013. Forage sorghum: an excellent feedstock for second generation biofuels in the North Central Region of the USA. p. 160-165. In 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 June 2013). Gesch, R.W., Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, A. Aponte, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and D. Archer. 2013 Double- and relay-cropping oilseed and biomass crops for sustainable energy production. p. 372-377 In 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 June 2013).