As posted and broadcasted on KSBI, June 11, 2008.

Researchers plan to use the switchgrass in the production of cellulosic ethanol.

The field is being called the world's largest for switchgrass, a drought-resistant perennial plant that grows even on marginal lands.

Scientists at the Noble Foundation in Ardmore are overseeing the project and hope the grass proves to be a viable substitute for corn in ethanol production.

Hitch Enterprises, a Panhandle-based company, began planting the field on Friday. Smaller fields of switchgrass also will be planted in central Oklahoma near Chickasha and Maysville.

The crops will be cut and sent to a new biorefinery that will be built by Abengoa Bioenergy of Hugoton, Kan., just across the state line from Guymon.

The Noble Foundation is working with the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University on the switchgrass project.

This article and broadcast appeared on KSBI, www.ksbitv.com, on June 11, 2008.