Hybrid poplar may have potential as alternative crop

[jpak]

http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/84395693837532.bsp

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. -- Dean Schmidt likes hybrid poplar. So do many landowners interested in getting involved with the growing market for both renewable energy and paper products.

Schmidt, WesMin Resource Conservation and Development coordinator in Alexandria, works with landowners who are already growing or who are interested in growing the crop.

Landowners can raise 3.5 tons of wood per acre per year. Sales have been running around $30 to $40 a cord with some sales up to $50, he said.

Hybrid poplars reach harvest stage at 12 years to 15 years, Schmidt said.

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[Old and In the Way]

1. Poplar grows like weeds on my property.

I have about 10 acres that was clearcut 15 years ago....the poplar are probably 35 feet tall now, very dense. They will probably start to give way to other more sturdy hardwoods and firs, but they are fast growers...

[jpak]

4. My family is considering alders as a biofuel cash crop

Alders grow faster than "pople", coppices easily and are nitrogen fixers to boot (no need for fertilization).

We have several large alder runs on our Maine property and a biomass power plant nearby.

If the numbers add up and we can get the equipment (a chipper and a truck), we are considering a light annual cutting (one or two stems per "tree" per year) to help pay the taxes on the place...

[yellowcanine]

2. It can also be grown on reclaimed land using sewage sludge.

http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu/Pages/Biosolids_Paper_1.html

[Schema Thing]

3. I wonder if, combined with nukes, we could get a 4 to 5 year harvest?

:popcorn: