1234 - 2/9/2014 19:51

  According to the U of Neb if you bale cornstalks directly behind the combine (without shredding & raking)  you can harvest about 2 ton per acre of the four ton  potentially available.  If the heat value of cornstalks (as received) is about 8500 BTUs per lb (at 15% moisture)  then this is equivalent to 9,350,000 Btu's per 1100 lb bale or 93.5 therms  per bale.  At your natural gas price of $0.85 per therm then a bale of corn stalks is worth about $79 as fuel.  If propane is worth $2.50 per gallon and $27.50 per million Btu's then a bale of cornstalks is worth  $257 in propane or $467 per ton or $935 per acre. 
  Somehow I think that at $250 per bale you could figure out how to build a cornstalk bale furnace and use the heat to dry grain.