Distribution of Above Ground Biomass in Corn Stover

Corn stover has been suggested as an ideal strategic feedstock for the bioenergyprogram because of its abundance and its underutilization at the present time. A key issue thatneeds addressing is how to harvest and process corn stover to maximize its quality as a fuel (orindustrial feedstock), minimize material losses, minimize environmental impacts, and improvehandling efficiencies is a key issue that needs to be addressed. Development ofstrategies/systems for the postharvest handling of corn stover involves quantifying what cornstover biomass is available over time after physiological maturity of the grain has been reached.It also involves understanding how the biomass is distributed in the different above groundcomponents of the corn plant. The objectives of this investigation was to measure the allocationof biomass to above ground components of the corn plant over time and to develop relationships for estimating total above ground corn plant biomass through simple corn plantdimensional measurements. Above ground biomass distribution for two corn cultivars (Pioneer32K61 and 32K64 Bt) was studied in standing plants from roughly two weeks before grainphysiological maturity until four weeks after the actual grain harvest from other plots in the field.Over the monitoring period, the amount of dry matter in stover averaged 50% of the total dryplant material with stalks comprising 50% of the stover dry matter at the time grain washarvested. Validity of the 1:1 stover dry matter to grain fresh weight was confirmed when grainhad moisture contents in the harvest range. Such precondition has not been clearlyemphasized in the literature. Regression equations using stalk diameter and plant heightderived to estimate the green weight and dry matter of the corn plant above the ground had amaximum R2 of 0.75.