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Sugarmaker 
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Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Location: Albion PA
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 Topic: Harvesting castanza grass
Posted: 07 May 2019 at 3:11pm |
Folks, Not sure where this should be. Anyway I got a call from my friend Gary and his fields were being harvested. A unusual crop for our area. This grass which get to be about 10 feet tall is dry and ready for the choppers
Claas chopper with duals, loading tracked trailers, hauled with Cat Challengers. Yea they mean business. 3 semi trucks were hauling it to mfg facility about 30 miles away.
Field exits were a little soupy and this guy was stopped by the local Sheffield soil!
The next field they were headed for. This was 2 year old grass. Very heavy and dense.
My understanding is it will be made into consumables like paper plates. Once planted it will keep coming back each year. Like a bulb type plant. Bulbs look kind of like a medium potato.
Regards, Chris
Edited by Sugarmaker - 07 May 2019 at 9:30pm
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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JohnCO
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Posted: 07 May 2019 at 6:06pm |
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That's interesting, never heard of it before,w well does it yield, tons per acre?
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"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
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LouSWPA
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Posted: 07 May 2019 at 8:50pm |
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well, I hope it pays well, given what they have tied up in equipment
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I am still confident of this;
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Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 07 May 2019 at 9:30pm |
Folks, Not sure I know any of the answers. This friends farm is under contract to grow this grass. Not sure of those details. The company that makes the final product does the planting and harvesting. Yea some investment. But its not using trees and will grow back next year. Looks like great deer habitat too! This equipment just traveled 3 hours to get to this farm which is one of its furthest from the factory in Andover Ohio. I dont think there is much weight to the product? Not sure how many tons are on a semi load? Regards, Chris |
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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shameless dude
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 12:20am |
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thanks for posting this, it's interesting to learn where lots of different things are made with. lots of diversifications out there!
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DMiller
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 6:48am |
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If the trailers are filled and any scales close, they are likely loading less than 48,000 lbs. To that we were hauling 900+ bushel on a 40x 8'6" round bottom dump trailer so could be closer to 1000-1100 bushel a trailer at the guesstimated weight.
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Tbone95
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 6:58am |
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So.....that's the typical way, that it's dry in the spring after wintering and that's when they chop it?
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JohnCO
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 1:22pm |
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It would make sense to wait until it's dried down as much as possible to save on drying costs, also if it is stored, they don't have to worry about it heating up. Doesn't look like weeds would be a problem once it gets established. I assume the land owner just gets paid so much per acre since the company does all the work.
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"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
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Tbone95
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 1:26pm |
 JohnCO wrote:
It would make sense to wait until it's dried down as much as possible to save on drying costs, also if it is stored, they don't have to worry about it heating up. Doesn't look like weeds would be a problem once it gets established. I assume the land owner just gets paid so much per acre since the company does all the work.
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Yeah....just that the "stand strength" must be pretty awesome to ride out wind, rain, snow for all that time. Obviously I suppose, if it has enough substance to make paper products, it has enough stem strength to ride it out. Never heard of it before.
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ac fleet
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 7:11pm |
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Interesting crop! -- sounds like it might just have a place in the market. Hope it expands to other areas!
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truckerfarmer
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Posted: 08 May 2019 at 9:52pm |
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Got any more information on that grass? I tried Google, but couldn't find anything.
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Looking at the past to see the future.
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DiyDave
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 5:00am |
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truckerfarmer
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 6:40am |
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Thanks Dave.
I've been considering alternative crops, so anything new peaks my interest.
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Looking at the past to see the future.
'53 WD, '53 WD45, WD snap coupler field cultivator, #53 plow,'53 HD5B dozer
Duct tape.... Can't fix stupidity. But will muffle the sound of it!
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 7:17am |
Folks, The link looks to be correct Aloterra is the company he is hooked up with! I butchered the name of the grass! Sorry! Regards,
Edited by Sugarmaker - 09 May 2019 at 8:52pm
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Tbone95
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 8:12am |
Miscanthus.....castanza ???? Wow, yeah, you butchered it!  Never heard of that though either. 4 - 16 tons per acre dry matter. Quite a range, but the top end of that is pretty high. Interesting. Just need a market....
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allisrutledge
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 8:27am |
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Bet its hard on knives. Sounds like a great option for replacing trees in the process.
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JohnCO
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Posted: 09 May 2019 at 6:47pm |
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Just watched a video on Youtube of the harvest. It was in French so didn't understand much of what they were saying but it looks like they were burning it in a boiler for hot water. It was a link to the Aloterra site. They are expanding to 7000 acres this year to make 50 million plates and clamshell boxes. Aloterra
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"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
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