Why grow Miscanthus with Terravesta?
Miscanthus is a perennial grass.
Miscanthus is a low maintenance and easy to establish crop.
Its perennial nature means that for the cost of a single establishment, you will benefit from viable yields for over 20 years, giving you long term value for money.
Successful planting relies on adequate soil moisture and a neutral soil pH.
Miscanthus provides good returns.
Terravesta Athena™ is the strongest performing variety of Miscanthus available on the market, offering up to 50% higher yields over standard giganteus. Your first viable harvest is achieved in the second year after planting, one year earlier than the standard giganteus variety.
We offer a guaranteed market for the biomass through our long-term, index linked offtake contracts.
As a result, farmers who started growing Miscanthus with Terravesta in 2012 have seen consistent price rises, amounting to an increase of 57.24% per tonne by 2024.
What can I earn with Miscanthus?
Miscanthus requires an initial investment in rhizomes and establishment, from the second year onward, there are no additional costs. Harvesting, baling and transport are usually outsourced to contractors meaning little time is required from you.
Gross output is £ 1,000-1,400 per hectare, depending on soil quality. Net margins vary between £ 600-900 per hectare, based on your distance to the power plant. Terravesta Athena™ means you reach the break-even point a year earlier than Giganteus. This is normally around year 5, which leaves 15 plus years of pure profit for minimal effort. SFI schemes are also available.
Miscanthus is overall CO2 negative.
The above-ground Miscanthus biomass is carbon neutral, meaning it absorbs the same amount of carbon each year that it releases when used in renewable energy plants.
Additionally, the below ground root system sequesters 2.35t CO2e per hectare, per year. This makes the crop carbon negative overall, taking into account emissions from planting, cutting, baling and transport.
This means it will let you offset your other farming activities at no extra cost.
Speak to a Miscanthus expert today.
Miscanthus is a very hardy plant.
Despite its simple agronomy the crop is very resilient and can recover from severe drought and flooding.
In extreme cases, if the field is under water at harvest time and therefore inaccessible, harvesting can be postponed to the following year.
Next year’s crop will then be about one and a half times the normal harvest, as some of the canes from the previous difficult year will still be standing.
Miscanthus provides system services and benefits biodiversity.
Miscanthus provides a habitat for wildlife, including invertebrates, larger birds and animals. Its root system prevents soil erosion and enhances soil structure.
As the plants shed their leaves each autumn, the soil will accumulate organic matter.
If you decide to use the land for something else, power harrowing it will bring up the rhizomes to the surface, where they’ll dry out and die.
Miscanthus life cycle
Propagation involves planting rhizome cuttings harvested from specialist nurseries to ensure fresh and vigorous rhizomes for optimum establishment.
Terravesta ATHENA™ rhizomes are planted in the spring after the late frost on all soil types. Harvesting takes place at the end of winter, around March in the UK, when little else is going on in the agricultural sector.
To achieve the best yield, our precision planter with 4 operators plants 17,000 rhizomes per hectare.
Why Terravesta?
Miscanthus specialist since 2007
Terravesta provides the best establishment protocol and the best performing hybrids in the industry based on decades of research.
Our nursery guarantees pure planting material. Each shipment can be traced to the field of origin. Rhizomes come from 3-year rotations when they are at their most vigorous.
Long term partner
Terravesta is a comprehensive supplier of Miscanthus, offering full end-to-end services from initial establishment through to securing a guaranteed end user with inflation proof long-term index-linked contracts.
Our services include the provision of planters and agronomic advice, drone surveys, technical support as well as farm visits.
Testimonials
Adam Bradshaw
Lincolnshire, arable farmer
Miscanthus has been good for our risk management strategy. Those fields now have no cultivations, no machinery costs and no inputs. It reduces risk, we’ve got less money tied up and once we’ve paid back the capital establishment for the crop, everything else is a bonus for 20 years.
Mark Wiseman
Oxfordshire, mixed arable & livestock
When the battle against blackgrass had been lost and yields of wheat were in decline, finding an alternative was crucial. Miscanthus was the obvious solution. Its high canopy literally swamps the black grass and blocks out the light. We grow it on heavy clay land prone to flooding, and it thrives.
Richard Gothard
Somerset, maize & grassland
Its sustainability is fantastic in that it just keeps on growing every year. Its self-sufficient and reduces our carbon footprint. In all my greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, the emissions are 12 times lower than the DECC’s target. My agronomist described Miscanthus as the grass of the future.