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Three agribusiness giants—Archer Daniels Midland Co., Deere & Co., and Monsanto Co.—said Tuesday they have agreed to collaborate on research that will explore the potential of transforming corn-crop residues into feed and bioenergy products.


Creating such additional products from the unused byproducts of crops, the companies said, would allow farmers to increase the value they derive from each acre.

The collaboration is part of a growing trend toward developing non-food sources of the gasoline substitute known as ethanol. Its production has helped drive the price of many foodstuffs higher by diverting a portion of the nation's corn crop that formerly went to food.

The three companies said they hope to learn whether there are economically and environmentally sustainable ways to harvest, store and transport "corn stover," or the unused stalks, leaves and cobs of corn plants.



Farmers typically leave stover on the field, where it can help reduce erosion and create new organic matter for the soil. But stover also holds promise for use as feed for animals, as biomass to generate steam and electricity, or as a cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production, the companies said.

"As the world's population grows, so will demand for food and energy," said ADM research vice president Todd Werpy. "Using non-food feedstocks for feed and energy is one way that agriculture can apply innovation to create renewable sustainable solutions."

As production of corn-derived ethanol has soared, so have corn prices, and the use of stover has been drawing increasing interest, as have other non-food "cellulosic" products such as switch grass and even logging residue.

Experimental equipment has been designed to allow farmers to use their combines to harvest stover at the same time as corn crops, for example, and work is being done on how best to transport the material.

But because the stalks, leaves and cobs provide valuable soil nutrients as they rot, researchers are also trying to determine what trade-offs would be involved if stover were taken away to be fermented into ethanol.

When Congress passed its latest farm bill in June, lawmakers included substantial tax credits to encourage new cellulosic-ethanol research and production. And the Department of Energy is investing about $385 million in six commercial-scale cellulosic plants in the next four years.

The development has sparked a host of pilot projects and entrepreneurial startups, but it has also drawn the attention of big corporate players, such as chemicals giant DuPont Co.

ADM, Deere and Monsanto bring deep pockets as well as significant political savvy. A spokeswoman at ADM said the partners aren't disclosing the funding for the stover project.

ADM, based in Decatur, Ill., is a grain-processing company and is a major maker of ethanol from corn. Deere & Co., of Moline, Ill., is the world's leading maker of agricultural equipment, while Monsanto, of St. Louis, is a major provider of agricultural chemicals and seeds.

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