"Is this milkweed thing for real?" That's what Roger Rainville says farmers from across the country are asking him. "They are desperate for something."

Rainville, of Alburgh, Vt., doesn't know yet if milkweed will save struggling dairy farmers, but it has promise. He's working to develop an efficient way to harvest and transport milkweed, beginning with his own 50 acres.

It will be a big step forward for Rainville, for the Quebec farmers who now have 2,000 acres in production and for other struggling dairy farmers looking for something to boost income.

Seeds of production
Milkweed was used in World War II to fill life jackets. Rainville says his research shows that some Midwest farmers even started growing milkweed, but once commodity prices started to rise they abandoned it before it was commercialized.

In Canada, there's already a market for milkweed floss as an oil absorbent and as insulation for winter clothing. Quartz Co., a high-end Quebec firm that developed a milkweed-floss-insulated parka two years ago, will take any floss producers can grow, he says.

Rainville is one of the directors of Monark Cooperative, a Canadian cooperative formed six years ago to promote milkweed production. Canadian farmers contracted with a textile company, ENCORE 3, that promised seed, harvest and research help. But two years ago, ENCORE 3 was bought out by another company that ended up going bankrupt before farmers could bring in a crop.

Those farmers have already shown they can successfully grow milkweed, but they're forced to harvest it by hand.

SLOW GROWTH: It takes three to four years of growth before milkweed can be harvested and bring in some income.

"We're not reinventing anything; we know the value of the floss," he says. "The demand is there, but we need to do harvesting and processing."

The co-op paid 45 cents per pound of pods. Quebec growers were getting yields of between 500 and 2,500 pounds of pods per acre, Rainville says.

Harvest hitch
Milkweed must be transported to a processing facility, and the only one available is 400 miles north, along the St. Lawrence River.

Rainville has modified a grain combine outfitted with dust collectors that he says should capture the floss. If successful, the floss can be baled, compressed and shipped to the facility. Without it, he says, the floss, which is perishable, will spoil during the long trip.

The pods are harvested at 30-percent moisture, when the seeds turn brown and most of the sticky milk, which gums up a combine, has dried up.

"Years ago, I harvested sunflowers with this (combine), and I got a lot of milkweed floss with it. So, a light bulb went on,” he says, adding that floss compacts to roughly one-twentieth the volume of the pods.

Rainville says he has also tried mowing, swathing and baling milkweed in the field, but it ferments in the bales.

PERISHABLE PODS: Roger Rainville has modified a grain combine outfitted with dust collectors that he says should capture the floss. The floss is perishable and will spoil during long trips.

He planted his first 7-acre stand four years ago, followed by 43 acres the next year using stratified ‑ cold-treated to germinate in the spring — common milkweed seed at a rate of 3 to 4 lbs. per acre.

"Germination has been 60% to 80% in good years," he says. University of Vermont Extension, which has been helping Rainville, has trials on seeding rates and dates underway.

Difficult to get going
Although it may take a few years before major pest problems emerge, insects and disease seem to be minor, says Heather Darby, UVM agronomist. The most critical issue is establishment, and milkweed is difficult to get going, she says.

"The milkweed seed takes about 14 days to germinate, allowing weeds to establish pretty easily," Darby says. "Once the milkweed is emerged from the soil, it grows at a relatively slow rate, again, allowing for weed establishment."

Estimated production costs include $20 to $50 per acre for tilling the seedbed, $120 per acre for seed and $15 to $20 per acre for a couple of herbicide applications in the crop's first year.

"We are doing cover crop trials to try and reduce unwanted weed pressures without herbicides," Rainville says.

Long wait, big returns
It takes three to four years of growth before milkweed can be harvested and bring in some income. But a stand of milkweed lasts seven to 10 years. As a perennial crop, it has another benefit: curbing erosion.

So, is milkweed invasive? Rainville hopes it is not. He has not seen the plant invade any other fields in the four years he has been growing it.

HOPEFUL FARMER: Roger Rainville doesn't know yet if milkweed will save struggling dairy farmers, but he has hope.

Of course, it is not just good in warm coats. Milkweed is the only food source for larvae of the monarch butterfly, whose decline — more than 80% in the past 20 years — has been well-documented. The monarch pollinates wildflowers, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will cost-share milkweed plantings as part of its pollinator programs.

"This is going to work but it's in the growing phase and we don't have all the answers," Rainville says. "But farmers are pretty excited. This is a win-win-win: the monarchs and pollinators, and putting a crop into production for several years, and an economic benefit for the farmer. Imagine that!"

Harlow writes from Vermont.