Miscanthus Grass in N.C.

Miscanthus grass is a crop that is not often talked about but vitally important to our agriculture industry. The grass is used for a variety of purposes, including bedding for chicken and turkey houses as well as making paper. Check out the video below to hear from Kornegay Farms in Mt. Olive on their experience growing this grass and join us in thanking them for their hard work! #NCAgriculture

[@shaunmoore1773]

Miscanthus is a highly invasive plant in the NC mountains. There are even other NC department of agriculture efforts to get rid of it because it's a serious fire hazard.

[@NCAgriculture]

The Giant Miscanthus species was researched thoroughly by our Plant Industry Division before being allowed into the state. NCSU also did research. NC Crop Improvement monitors all certified seed plantings for unplanned expansion. This effort only includes certified seed sources. These sights are also tested for seed viability every year. No viable seed has been found to date by NC Crop Improvement.

[@arminweise3768]

@@NCAgriculture I am happy to hear the fields are being check for possible escapes and viability! How much of the fields are being checked every year? What is the probability of potential viable seeds to be remain undetected?
I wanted to add the below comment from a Facebook post of mine to the discussion because I think it adds value to the discussion on the sterility of Miscanthus x giganteus.
(Madeja et al. 2012) - Despite not specifically finding that the 'sterile' Miscanthus × giganteus can produce viable seed when crossing with other varieties, they attribute this to it being late flowering and grown in Zone 5 for the study (and therefore its seed cannot mature before its development is halted by the first killing frost). As a result Miscanthus × giganteus may be able to produce viable seed (similar to the other early flowering varieties as found in the paper) when grown further south (and with climate change increasingly north) where its fruit set is not interrupted by the first killing frost.
meridian.allenpress.com/jeh/article/30/1/42/78988/Differences-in-Seed-Set-and-Fill-of-Cultivars-of

[@matthewdavis9979]

Awesome to provide our farmers with an additional source of revenue

[@bobstranzenbach4700]

It’s invasive.

[@wijesinghestephen]

What are the advantage of this grass