Based on the least cost estimates in Table 4, it is clear several
stover harvest and storage systems could be economically
viable on farms, and that all systems had some tradeoffs. For
harvesting, chopping with a forage harvester appears to be
more expensive than round baling, but mostly because the full
harvest capacity of a forage harvester is not utilized with corn
stover. However, a forage harvester can be used to harvest
many crop types throughout the year, which may make its
greater capital costs worthwhile, especially on farms that may
have only limited use for baling equipment. Chopped stover
may also be more attractive than bales due to easier size
reducing at an ethanol facility. Eliminating the shredding
operation to achieve a two-pass system can reduce stover
harvest costs, but increases the likelihood that stover moisture
will stay great enough (>20%) to prevent harvest and
storage as dry bales. This may cause problems on farms that
are not already equipped to store stover as wrapped bales, or
in bags, bunks, or piles. However,