NRCS Booneville Plant Materials Center (PMC) Releases New Species

The NRCS Booneville, Arkansas PMC recently released a new eastern gamagrass to be called "Bumpers" in honor of Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas who served for 24 years in the United States Senate and has been a long time advocate and supporter of agriculture and issues related to farm production and agricultural producers.

Although the new grass will be primarily used as a forage crop, Bumpers has other potential benefits -- one of which is as a production-biomass crop for bioenergy or biofuel. Experts predict that energy produced from fossil fuels will peak by 2020, presenting a challenge to find alternative energy resources. Agriculture stands to benefit by becoming a major producer of alternative fuels such as biofuels from crops like Bumpers to supply small power plants and crops that can be utilized in the production of synfuels such as methane and ethanol.

A variety of biomass-producing plant materials, such as Bumpers and other selected perennial grasses and fast-growing trees, are rapidly emerging in the agricultural marketplace. NRCS PMCs like Booneville are addressing the development of plant materials that will accommodate energy needs while considering water conservation and other objectives.
Your contact is Robert Westover, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 301-504-8175.