Miscanthus giganteus rhizomes
from Europe’s leading Miscanthus establishment & supply chain expert
Terravesta Athena ™ rhizomes deliver bigger, quicker, more consistent yields, unbeatable quality and higher calorific value.
Terravesta Athena ™, the preferred second generation ligno-cellulosic biomass and biofuel crop has undergone rigorous selection and development to ensure increased and stable yields, suitability for a wide range of climatic and soil conditions and increased tolerance to periods of drought.
Higher yielding
Earlier harvest
Hardier plants
Higher calorific value
Lower ash content
Planting costs for Miscanthus giganteus
Starting a Miscanthus giganteus crop involves a few key costs. Planting typically begins in the fall and needs some upfront investment for preparing the land and labor.
It’s important to check that the soil has a neutral pH, and if not, adjustments may be needed. To clear away any existing plants, a weed treatment is usually applied about a month before planting.
Planting Miscanthus is made easy with specialized machinery provided by Terravesta when you buy the planting materials. The planter, which is pulled by a medium-sized tractor, is operated by a small team of four people. The main cost is for the Miscanthus rhizomes. By choosing the variety with the highest yield, fastest establishment time, and best growth, you’ll be taking a smart decision.
After planting, herbicide may be applied to control weeds. However, once Miscanthus is established, it requires very little maintenance. The main tasks are annual cutting, baling, and transporting the bales. Best of all, no chemicals are needed after it’s established, making Miscanthus a long-term, cost-effective choice for biomass production.
Initial / annual costs and revenues for Miscanthus
One-off investment
- Planting material purchase
- Autumn soil preparation
- Weed suppression
- Spring preparation of tilth
- Manning of planter and tractor
- Post-planting rolling
- Post-planting weed control
Annual recurring cost
- Cutting with a forage harvester
- Baling
- Bale chasing and stacking
- Sheeting / stocking for better quality
- Transport
Off-take agreement
- Long term agreement with Terravesta
- Guaranteed for 100% of production
- Prices indexed to inflation (RPIX)
- Baled in Hesston 4×4 or 4×3 bales
- Moisture content of max 23%
- Good stringing
- For use in renewable energy plants
Spot market / own use
- Own use on farm
- Resale to animal bedding market
- Resale to horticultural market
- Own use for heating of premises
- Production of biochar etc…
Cash flow and maintenance efforts
Rhizome prices
The prices are inclusive:
- rhizomes from the gentotype Terravesta ATHENA ™ high performance Miscanthus
- extra vigorous for fast establishment and returns from year two
- yields up to 50% higher than wild Miscanthus x giganteus
- lifted from second or third year plants from dedicated nursery fields
- axe cut & hand selected, excluding “stem type” rhizomes & dead pieces
- packed in < 12 kg bags of a min. 400 rhizomes for easy handling
- stored temperature & humidity controlled until delivered to the field
- planting density of 17,000 rhizomes / hectare
- target emergence of > 12,000 plants or 1.2 plants per square metre (m2)
- semiautomatic Miscanthus planting machine delivered to the field margins
- planting machine set-up, use and safety training
- farm and field inspection in autumn and 2 weeks before planting
- drone survey for emergence measurement after 24 months from planting
Rhizomes must not be split or lifted.
| Rhizomes* | Area | Packaging | Weight* | Planter | UK £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | 230 m2 | 1 bag | < 12 kg | not incl. | 92.00 |
| 8,000 | 0.5 ha | 20 bags | 240 kg | not incl. | 1,700.00 |
| 17,200 | 1.0 ha | 43 bags | 510 kg | incl. | 2,200.00 |
| 170,000 | 10.0 ha | 7 pallets | 5 tonnes | incl. | 21,500.00 |
| 665,600 | 39.2 ha | 1 truck | 20 tonnes | incl. | 77,445.00 |
* Number of rhizomes indicates the minimum delivered. Weight indicates the maximum delivered.
Origin of Terravesta Athena ™ rhizomes
Miscanthus x giganteus Terravesta Athena ™ rhizomes are grown in dedicated large scale nurseries in Europe at carefully selected sites with optimum conditions.
We do not source from third parties and each shipment is traceable to the field of origin.
Terravesta Athena ™ yields
Field-scale commercial trials conducted in various European destinations, climates and soil conditions show that Miscanthus x giganteus Terravesta Athena ™ yields are on average higher than the standard Miscanthus x giganteus variety.
Athena (TM) starts fast into the season.
30% higher yields are not uncommon.
In temperate maritime climates (UK), yields may be up to 50% higher.
D. Awty-Carroll, at al, GCB Bioenergy, 15, 399–423 (2022)
Graph: Dry weight yield, pag. 16, TV1 (GRC15) = Terravesta ATHENA ™ (light green) versus MxG (GRC9) = Miscanthus giganteus standard (green)
Terravesta ATHENA ™ is very vigorous
Terravesta Athena™, the highest yielding crop on the market, starts very early and visibly outperforms Miscanthus giganteus (MxG).
Rapid canopy development ensures that the rhizomes accumulate nutrients more quickly. As a result, Terravesta Athena™ overwinters better and emerges faster the following year.
Terravesta Athena™ delivers a commercial harvest one year earlier than standard Miscanthus, in year two.
Miscanthus rhizome quality assurance
Terravesta guarantees continuous nursery rotation, and the rhizomes for sale and planting are never more than three years old in their propagation cycle. We have a strict quality control procedure for monitoring production of Miscanthus rhizomes to ensure optimum condition.
Our temperature-regulated Miscanthus x giganteus Terravesta Athena™ rhizomes are backed by a planting promise to ensure a specified crop establishment success rate provided the planting protocol is followed throughout the establishment process.
Packaging & delivery
Packed in small bags for easy unloading, handling and feeding to planter.
Up to 39 ha of rhizomes are loaded onto a 13,6 m refrigerated lorry.
Keep rhizomes at a temperature of 2° C (+/-2 and never below 0° degrees C).
Packaging protocol
- 400 rhizomes/small bag
- 64 bags/pallet (25,6k rhizomes / 1.5 ha)
- 26 pallets/truck (39 ha)
- 1 pallet = 1.5 ha (17k rhizomes/ha)
- pallet footprint: 1200 x 1000 x 2000 mm
- pallet weight: 650 kg (max 1,000 kg )
Terravesta Athena ™ growth cycle
Terravesta ATHENA ™ rhizomes are planted for propagation only and harvested on demand. For spring 2025 planting, the order deadline is 10th December 2024.
Spring
Miscanthus is normally planted after the late frost when the soil is still moist and temperatures are around 8⁰ C.
Late spring
The first shoots appear when the outside temperature reaches 15⁰ to 20⁰ C in late spring or early summer, depending on latitude.
Summer
When exposed to full sun shine Miscanthus grows rapidly, reaching heights of 3 metres and more. As day length shortens the plant starts to shed its leaves, which cover the soil and return nutrients to it.
Autumn
As it gets colder the plant will extract the last of the nutrients from its stems, which will turn from green to red and then gold, and store them in its rhizomes.
Winter
When the soil begins to dry out and machinery can be driven on, it is time to cut the crop and leave it in the swath for a week or so to let the last of the sap out of the stems.
Late Winter
Once dried, when the average moisture content of the cut crop has reached 10-14%, it is time to bale and transport to the end user.
Next Spring
And it just keeps going for the next 20+ years. Once planted, growers can sit back and see their Miscanthus withstand drought & flooding and deliver returns year after year.
Miscanthus x Giganteus Terravesta Athena ™ planting
Miscanthus grows from rhizomes planted by our specially designed semi-automatic mechanical planter which plants rhizomes with precision, increasing yield potential through safe and gentle handling.
The average planting rate is 17,000 rhizomes per hectare, or 1.7 rhizomes per m2. This leaves plenty of room for the rhizome to spread and grow without encouraging competition between species. For optimum establishment, planting should be in four rows, 75 cm apart.
Miscanthus x Giganteus Terravesta Athena™ Miscanthus grows on all land types, but achieves the strongest yields on wet, sandy soils.
The soil pH ideally needs to be in the region of 6,0 – 7,5. It takes longer to establish in heavier clay soils, but yields are more consistent due to greater moisture retention.
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Tell us about your farm and the caracteristics of the fields you want to cultivate.
Terravesta Market Advantage
Our experience
Miscanthus x Giganteus Terravesta Athena™ grows best in temperate and continental climates. Terravesta plants regularaly in: Scotland, England, France, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Moldova, Netherlands, Belgium and Ukraine.
Miscanthus Invasiveness
Miscanthus x giganteus Terravesta Athena™ is non-invasive
Currently, available cultivars and lines for Miscanthus x giganteus Terravesta Athena™ do not produce viable seed and, as such, are non invasive.
Terravesta’s more than a decade long planting experience confirms that once established, the Terravesta Athena™ rhizome covers a maximum area of around one square metre and once it has reached that size it does not spread further. The non-invasiveness of this hybrid is also determined by the genetic purity of the parental lines which our nursery protocol guarantees. Opposing opinions on Miscanthus available on the internet usually refer to varieties of Miscanthus sinensis, which is a garden plant and is not available from Terravesta and is considered unsuitable as a biomass crop.
Miscanthus stores net 2.35 t of CO2e every year
As Miscanthus grows, its above-ground biomass will absorb the equivalent of 26 tonnes/ha/year of CO2 equivalents.
The underground rhizome sequesters the equivalent of 3.05 tonnes/ha/year of CO2e as it grows, building healthier soils in the process.
Emissions from all on-farm and delivery activities total 0.7 t/ha/year and are offset by the below-ground biomass.
Above-ground biomass is consumed, with emissions offset by above-ground biomass growth, resulting in carbon-neutral green energy.
If the emissions are captured at the point of use and stored using appropriate BECCS technologies, the net removal of CO2 is more than 29 tonnes per hectare per year.
It is the carbon life cycle of Miscanthus that makes it such an attractive crop for climate change mitigation. As a result, both the UK government and the EU Commission have identified biomass as a key part of their respective decarbonisation strategies.
Miscanthus Markets
Miscanthus is primarily used as biomass for combustion in renewable energy power plants to generate electricity and heat homes (CHP – combined heat and power). There are also alternative markets, including:
- domestic fuel alternatives, bio-refining
- animal bedding, horticultural mulch and growing media,
- construction materials such as concrete or fibreboard
- sanitary wipes, paper production, packaging
- phytoremediation of polluted soils.
In the UK, Terravesta has signed long-term contracts with biomass power stations. In addition, Terravesta procures growers and land, manages the agronomy, harvesting and logistics of the biomass
Terravesta is currently working on several projects across Europe that bring together biomass farmers, logistics companies and industrial users. Terravesta develops new markets in partnership for a better and greener future.
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