{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02583276682528892, 'fraction_numerical': 0.011556764106050306, 'mean_word_length': 4.935483870967742, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 1, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Fueling and Feeding America Through Renewable Resources RenewableEnergy Development of a Viable Corn Stover Market: Impacts on Corn and Soybean Markets

Figure 1. Soybean and Corn Price Correlation, 2000-2011 (source: adapted U.S. Department of Agriculture 2012) Introduction Renewable energy issues are a major topic in the U.S., with concerns about decreasing dependency on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions. First-generation biofuels that are produced from food crops will be unable to replace a large portion of oilbased products. Second-generation biofuels offer an alternative to first generation from non-food crop sources, using residues from forests and crops, such as corn stover. These residue-based biofuels should have low impact on food prices and land use change, and, if removed in a sustainable method, the potential use may be large. Another advantage for second-generation biofuels in the form of agricultural residue is that they provide a potential new source of income for farmers. Research conducted by Thompson (2011) indicated that if a viable corn stover market existed, it could have a large impact on farmers’ crop rotations and land allocation decisions. However, that research was farm level, with given prices for all the possible crops. The purpose of the research reported here was to determine to what extent the switch to continuous corn in the Midwest Corn Belt is likely to occur, and if it did, what would be the implications.