Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) for Biofuel Production

Mature stand of switchgrass in its third year of production at Michigan State University. Photo: Dennis Pennington.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a native warm-season grass that is a leading biomass crop in the United States. More than 70 years of experience with switchgrass as a hay and forage crop suggest switchgrass will be productive and sustainable on rain-fed marginal land east of the 100th meridian. Long-term plot trials and farm-scale studies in the Great Plains and plot trials in the