HIGH cereal prices have been blamed for a slow uptake in farmers growing willow for the UK's first biomass power station.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wickes opened Sembcorp Utilities £60m plant at Wilton, on Teesside, last November.

It will use 300,000 tonnes of woodchip a year to provide enough electricity for 30,000 homes.

Its three main sources are recycled timber, much of which previously went to landfill; round wood from forests; and short rotation coppice (SRC) willow grown by farmers on contract.

But Dr Barbara Hilton, energy crops manager for the power station, said farmer recruitment had been difficult because of rising cereal prices - even though costs had also rocketed.

Farmers within a 50-mile radius of Wilton - from north of Selby, in North Yorkshire, to Morpeth in Northumberland - are being recruited to grow up to 3,000 hectares of SRC.

However, so far, only 20 farmers are growing 100 hectares.

Willow will happily grow on poorer land and areas prone to flooding - last year, many Yorkshire farmers lost valuable crops to floodwaters in which willow would have survived.

Farmers who grow SRC are eligible for 40 per cent establishment grants and Sembcorp offers ten-year index-linked contracts, which pay £61 per oven dried tonne.

SRC should produce 20 to 30 oven dry tonnes of wood chip per hectare at first harvest.

The farmer needs to prepare the land, but specialist contractors will plant, cut back and harvest the crop.

The farmer needs to apply a herbicide immediately after planting and after the first year's cutback and keep rabbits out for the first 18 months, but little else needs to be done.

A major attraction of SRC is the guaranteed long-term income from poor land.

Dr Hilton said she knew of farmers who have grown SRDC on old landfill sites, marginal land and on blocks of land away from the main holding.

The power station will always be able to get supplies from its other main sources, but Dr Hilton believes many farmers are missing out on the potential income SRC offers.

She said: "I can see farmers want to make hay while the sun shines and get high prices for wheat, but most must have some land suitable for SRC."

Interested farmers can contact Dr Hilton on 01904-624-948 for more information.