The company reported that the first Blade products build on the inherentadvantages of these highly efficient crops, offering double-digit biomassyield gains in many cases -- a remarkable level of improvement by crop sciencestandards. High yields are needed since widely dispersed sources of biomassare cost-prohibitive to harvest and transport.

Anna Rath, vice president of commercial development, says that switchgrassand high-biomass sorghum can provide new options for growers, especially onunderperforming acres. While she expects the bulk of Blade seed to be sold tobioenergy companies this first year, the company has set aside seed forgrowers interested in gaining experience with these crops as the market forbiomass develops.

"With mandates for 21 billion gallons of biofuels from non-corn sourcesand renewed interest in cleaner-burning alternatives to coal, energy cropscould offer farm operators a sizeable opportunity. No doubt growers withexperience under their belts will have a head start as bioenergy companiesbegin looking for larger-scale supplies of biomass, or locations to site newfacilities," Rath suggested. She noted that there are various state andfederal initiatives to support growers, including the Biomass Crop AssistanceProgram (BCAP), which is expected to be introduced soon by the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture.

FIRST SEED PRODUCTS

Blade sales director Frank Hardimon said that many bioenergy producers arelooking for a mix of crops to provide flexibility from year to year andmitigate risk. "With a perennial and an annual crop in our product portfolio,we can support a broad range of geographies and production systems," he said.

Blade seed products include two improved switchgrass seed varieties -- EG1101 and EG 1102 -- and two new high-biomass sorghum hybrids -- ES 5200 and ES5201.

EG 1101 is a lowland-type switchgrass bred for greater biomass yields andbetter establishment. It has high biofuel conversion potential, and has shownsuperior conversion characteristics for biochemical and thermochemicalprocesses. "It may work well in a 2-cut system in high rainfall areas," notedHardimon. A similar cultivar, EG 1102, is adapted farther north than EG 1101.Several switchgrass varieties suited to mid and northern latitudes are alsoavailable from Blade.

ES 5200 and ES 5201 are two high-biomass sorghum hybrids that offer highyield potential in single-cut harvest systems. Since the plants generally donot produce grain heads until very late in the season, if at all, theycontinue growing -- and producing more biomass -- until early autumn or thefirst killing freeze. "This offers the potential for tremendous productivity,"said Hardimon. Blade will also have sorghum hybrids suited to multi-cutharvest systems.

Blade will also be the first major brand to package sorghum seed by countrather than weight -- an industry practice that has been well received in cornand soy. "This allows producers to purchase only the amount of seed they needrather than having to overbuy to cover variations in seeds per pound,"Hardimon said. Likewise, Blade switchgrass seed will be sold as pounds of purelive seed (PLS) -- rather than bulk weight -- so customers will purchase onlyviable seeds.

Hardimon said that he has been encouraged by the early interest he hasreceived from members of the grower community. Brand representatives are nowmaking farm visits and taking over-the-phone bookings, but he encouragedgrowers to try out the online booking option at the Blade website -- a servicethat has not been widely available in the seed industry. "Our goal is to makeour seed as accessible as possible," he said. Seed will begin shipping asearly as January 2009, ahead of spring plantings.

Growers can find more information about these products or book seed athttp://www.BladeEnergy.com.

About Ceres

Ceres, Inc. is a leading developer and marketer of high-yielding energycrops that can be planted as raw materials for cellulosic ethanol productionand biopower. Its development efforts cover switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus,energycane and short-rotation woody crops. The plant breeding andbiotechnology company markets its switchgrass seed and sorghum seed under itsBlade Energy Crops brand. Ceres holds one of the world's largest proprietarycollections of fully sequenced plant genes. The privately held firm alsolicenses its technology and traits to other organizations.

SOURCE Ceres, Inc.