Poplars have long been a source of shade, beauty and most importantly wind protection on prairie farmsteads.
But now another role has been added to the tree’s resume – a potential form of crop diversification, a renewable and sustainable source of wood for pulp and wood products.
“With the significant increase in world demand for wood and paper products, along with the decrease in industrial wood from public forests, hybrid poplar has gained interest both in Canada and around the world,” said John Kort, a biologist with the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration’s shelterbelt centre in Indian Head, Sask.
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“Hybrid poplar is the tree of choice for such plantations because of its rapid growth rate and therefore shorter rotation.”
In British Columbia, said Kort, hybrid poplar is being used in the production of paper pulp because it requires little or no bleaching. In Minnesota, researchers are interested in the concept of using hybrid poplars as a fuel source to replace coal and fossil fuels.
More traditional uses include wood chips for oriented strand board and lumber for fences, pallets, furniture and flooring.
Three years ago, the shelterbelt centre began a project involving the establishment of hybrid poplar plantations for demonstration and research in Saskatchewan.
This year, it will finish planting 50,000 trees near Esterhazy, Prince Albert, Birch Hills, Meadow Lake and Hudson Bay. The project is supported by the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund.
In co-operation with Agriculture Canada, smaller plantations will be established at Swift Current for comparison with those in the northern part of the province, and also for research into their ability to use extra moisture and reduce soil salinity.
The PFRA has been trying to improve the plains cottonwood for 50 years.
“We selected for growth rate, winter hardiness, disease and insect resistance, and form – trees that grow straight up instead of branching out are preferred.”
The demonstration sites are divided into three tests:
- Clonal, to determine the best hybrid poplar clones for block plantings.
- Spacing, to determine optimum spacing.
- Yield, which will be revealed at harvest.
Project co-operators include farmers, who are interested in a poplar plantation as a source of fuel, shelter or income from sales to milling companies, and three forestry companies that are interested in using the poplar for pulp or chips for oriented strand board.
These co-operators won’t realize the rewards for a while yet, however.
Although some commercial plantations have a 10-year rotation, Kort said the trees in the shelterbelt centre project will be 25 years old before they’re harvested.
