Invited Talk On Crop Modeling For Biofuel Production At Spatial Scales for Modeling Symposium.

James R. Kiniry, USDA-ARS, Moody, TX Abstract Text: Traditionally ALMANAC is a crop growth model designed to assess the productivity and environmental impacts of crop production on a single field. We recently developed a new version (GeoALMANAC) that allows for efficient simulation of a large number of fields that are spatially distributed across different agroclimatic conditions. In addition, several IPCC climate change scenarios have been built into the spatial weather databases. Simultaneously, the plant parameters for ALMANAC are being developed for many bioenergy crops (oilseed crops, energy cane, and energy sorghum), in addition to the existing parameters for the important biofuel perennial grasses switchgrass and giant Miscanthus. This presentation will describe many applications of GeoALMANAC simulating the effects of future climate change on yield and environmental impacts for biofuel production.