**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE EIGHT LEADING US CROPS PRODUCE OVER 500 MILLION TONS OF RESIDUE EACH YEAR. ALTHOUGH SOME OF THIS RESIDUE SHOULD BE LEFT ON FIELDS TO PREVENT SOIL EROSION, AN ESTIMATED 104 MILLION TONS COULD BE SUSTAINABLY HARVESTED EACH YEAR TO PROVIDE A RENEWABLE DOMESTIC SOURCE OF ENERGY. USING THESE RESIDUES TO PRODUCE BIOGAS VIA ANAEROBIC DIGESTION (AD) WOULD BE PARTICULARLY EFFICIENT, YIELDING GREATER NET ENERGY BENEFIT PER ACRE THAN LIQUID BIOFUELS. A SIGNIFICANT BARRIER TO CONVERTING MANY AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES TO BIOGAS, HOWEVER, IS LIGNIN - THE ORGANIC POLYMER THAT CONDUCTS WATER AND PROVIDES STRUCTURAL SUPPORT IN PLANT STEMS. MOST KNOWN BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS FOR LIGNIN DEGRADATION ARE AEROBIC, WHICH LIMITS EFFECTIVENESS OF AD IN DECOMPOSING THESE WASTES. TRADITIONAL PHYSICAL/CHEMICAL METHODS FOR DESTROYING LIGNIN ARE COSTLY AND CAN CREATE TOXIC INTERMEDIATES.THIS WORK PROPOSES FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF A NOVEL APPROACH TO BREAK THE LIGNIN BARRIER FOR AGRICULTURAL WASTES: SEEDING WITH TAV5, A MICROORGANISM ISOLATED FROM THE HINDGUT OF RETICULITERMES FLAVIPES, THE MOST WIDELY-DISTRIBUTED SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE IN NORTH AMERICA. IN PREVIOUS WORK IN OUR LAB, ANAEROBIC REACTORS SEEDED WITH TAV5 PRODUCED 34%-277% MORE METHANE (THE ENERGY CONSTITUENT OF BIOGAS) FROM WOOD, PAPER, AND YARD WASTE, COMPARED TO REACTORS WITH AD MICROORGANISMS ALONE. IN THIS PROJECT, 16 FIELD-SCALE ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS WILL BE TESTED WITH 4 KINDS OF AGRICULTURAL WASTE (RICE STRAW, WHEAT STRAW, RICE HUSK, AND CORN STOVER), HALF SEEDED WITH TAV5 AND THE OTHER HALF NOT, AS CONTROLS.THE OVERALL PROJECT GOAL IS TO INCREASE SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL/FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS, BY BOOSTING THE EFFICIENCY OF BIOGAS GENERATION FROM AGRICULTURAL WASTES. WITH USE OF TERMITE TAV5 TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY (T4), AD OF SUSTAINABLY HARVESTED CROP RESIDUES COULD PROVIDE AN ESTIMATED 38% OR MORE OF THE ENERGY NEEDS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR. IF THIS ENERGY IS USED ON-FARM FOR ELECTRICITY, HEAT, OR VEHICLE FUEL, THEN THE AGRICULTURE/FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEM BECOMES MORE SUSTAINABLE AND EFFICIENT, ENVIRONMENTALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUEL, WITH ASSOCIATED AIR POLLUTION, IS REDUCED, ENABLING FARMS TO BECOME MORE ENERGY-INDEPENDENT. ANAEROBIC DIGESTION ALSO PRODUCES A SOIL AMENDMENT WHICH CAN BE USED TO RECYCLE NUTRIENTS ON-SITE.