Miscanthus New Zealand Ltd begins taking commercial orders

23 September 2011

For immediate release

Miscanthus New Zealand Ltd begins taking commercial orders.

With the passing of first anniversary of the establishment of Miscanthus New Zealand Ltd (MNZ) the company has commenced taking orders for commercial quantities of Miscanthus plants for the 2012 season. This comes after a successful establishment phase for MNZ that has resulted in a handful of agreements with established feedstock users, for purchase of commercial trial quantities that are to be planted this spring.

Miscanthus is a naturally occurring sterile perennial hybrid C4 grass that grows 3.5 – 4 metres tall, is harvested annually and is extremely versatile in use. Internationally it is used as a feedstock for co-firing with coal or for use in biomass power and heat generation but it also has a wide range of other uses.

MNZ Managing Director Peter Brown said “Miscanthus is an energy grass that has dry matter production well above its competitors – double that of radiata pine - so we are not surprised at the high level of interest. We have deliberately not marketed it widely before now because we did not want to over commit ourselves for this spring’s planting”

MNZ has now commenced taking orders from companies wanting to establish commercial scale stands of Miscanthus in spring 2012 and is expecting to have all of its 2012 plant production booked in the next few months. MNZ is offering customers not only the Miscanthus plants for sale, but also crop establishment and management services, along with a guaranteed sale at a competitive price, for all of the crop that its customers produce.

“MNZ wanted to give interested customers the confidence to establish Miscanthus by giving them revenue certainty for what they will grow. This gives them security of income out into the future, which landowners do not get with any other product they can produce” said Brown. “And when that is allied to an annual net revenue per hectare that considerably exceeds most alternatives, the decision for them to plant Miscanthus is a very simple one.”

“And in the Lake Taupo catchment, if a landowner changes an area from livestock farming to Miscanthus there is the added benefit of being able to capitalise on nitrogen credits because Lake Taupo Protection Trust has confirmed that Miscanthus has the same nitrogen profile as forestry” Brown added.

So people who are interested will need to contact MNZ sooner rather than later in order to ensure that they secure their plant supply for next year.

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