Millions of acres of farmland in the Midwest that have been taken out of production due to marginal soils are going to replanted with Switchgrasses. These soils for a variety of reasons are not productive for corn. Switchgrass is a native grass of the U.S. plains and has been grown in European countries as an alternative energy crop. Mostly it will be planted as a monoculture crop and it has good potential as an alternative to corn for ethanol production. Environmentally it may be better for our environment's biodiversity although Switchgrass naturally grows with 60-80 other plants. So there will still be debates on whether or not Switchgrass should be grown as a monoculture. For the most part this crop should be a viable though temporary energy crop to help with the transition from imported energy to less polluting domestic supplies of energy. I said temporary because I believe a long term change will go beyond the burning of food supplies.
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