He's Growing Milkweed In A Big Way

He s Growing Milkweed In A Big Way CROPS Miscellaneous Milkweed is becoming a serious crop thanks to Win Phippen associate professor at Western Illinois University The ag researcher has learned how to row crop milkweed and now is working on equipment to harvest dry and process the pods which contain white floss that currently brings $10/lb
Maximum field size is five acres and the best sites have trees nearby says Phippen Milkweed needs bees for pollination If there aren t enough bees yield goes down
Unlike some alternative crops plenty of uses for milkweed already exist A Nebraska company Natural Fibers Corp has developed multiple markets for milkweed products such as mixing floss with goose down for pillows and comforters They even freeze-dry and grind leaves to sell to Monarch butterfly breeders at $60/lb USDA researchers have found the seed meal kills nematodes and fall armyworms The oil is rich in Vitamin E and has potential for use as a moisturizer In addition the floss is very absorbent
Milkweed floss outperforms everything at absorbing oils and it can be used in insulation ceiling tiles and other products says Phippen The problem is there isn t the quantity available that large companies need
His primary research is aimed at mechanizing milkweed production For the past five years he has refined production techniques He has identified 30-in rows as optimum and recommends planting in fine-tilled soil Handling the small flat seed is tricky He suggests using gravity drop seeders and advises wiping the tubes with anti-cling clothes drier products to eliminate static electricity
We use a Deere planter with sunflower cups or a gravity drop box like a Gandy Box says Phippen We seed at 10 lbs /acre If late fall seeding we try for 1/4-in spacing and early spring we try for 1/8-in seeding
Phippen prefers late fall seeding because cold winter weather primes the seed This lets it germinate in early spring and emerge before competitive weeds do Seed planted in the spring needs to be overwintered in a refrigerator Ironically a big problem with growing milkweed is weed control Phippen uses pre emerge herbicides or cultivation
A perennial milkweed production varies with plant age Over time the crop thins out until dominant plants stand about two feet apart Phippen suggests following a five-year rotation A long term plot produced no pods the first year about 700 lbs of floss per acre the second year 900 lbs the third year 700 lbs the fourth 500 lbs the fifth year and 400 lbs the sixth year Phippen points out that even 400 lbs at $10/lb would gross $4 000 per acre
Now Phippen is working on pickers dryers and processing Part of the problem is that most pods ripen over a two-week period in August While a snap bean picker harvested 90 percent of pods in plot research it also picked up leaves previous years corn trash and other material that had to be removed If it was set to blow light trash out light pods went as well Phippen s best results to date have been with a four row Uni-Harvester corn picker with a 30-in 4-row Deere header While it only harvested 70 percent of the available pods due it picked up less trash The researcher is now modifying the header for 10-in row spacing which he hopes will knock over fewer stems for a higher yield
Another problem is drying the pods Phippen is evaluating different systems As the pod mass begins to dry it has to be stirred constantly Once dried the pods have to be handled carefully so the floss isn t lost
While funding is limited Phippen and other researchers are positive about milkweed s potential He notes that his plots produce hundreds of monarch larvae that area schools pick Demand for butterflies could make larvae a second crop in milkweed fields
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Win Phippen Dept of Agriculture Western Illinois University 1 University Circle Macomb Ill 61455 ph 319 298-1251; fax 309 298-2280; wb-phippen@wiu edu; www wiu edu/altcrops/milkweed htm

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