ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Alta. – Farmers are taking another look at their woodlots as a valuable renewable resource as energy prices soar and the cost of lumber increases.
For Wilhelm Vohs, a 400 acre woodlot on his ranch near Innisfail, Alta., is more profitable to him as a managed resource than as an overgrown patch of aspen and spruce.
His change of heart began last January after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered 35 of his cows destroyed after BSE was diagnosed in one of his purebred Charolais cows.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
He used some of his government compensation money to buy a portable sawmill. He plans to cut lumber from his own place for corrals and other building needs, and clear out some of the growth.
“I don’t think it is worthwhile having a mill and trying to compete with Sunpine (Forest Products) if you have to buy trees,” he said at a pasture field day held near Rocky Mountain House.
He can cut seven-metre-long logs in his mill, although he can accommodate longer logs by adding extensions to the equipment.
The mill shaves off the bark and cuts trees into planks of any size, which he plans to use on the farm.
Pieter Vandershoodt of Breton, Alta., said most farmers have trees on their land they wish to cut. For example, small woodlots may have volunteer spruce trees growing along with aspen.
“If you release the aspen behind them, they really start growing.”
Some trees may not have much value as lumber but could be chopped into small pieces and fed into boilers as a cheap energy source.
On a per kilogram basis, he said, wood has about a third of the heating value of diesel fuel and half the heating value of coal.
“A large 800 kg straw bale has the same caloric value as $140 worth of natural gas.”
Even a small acreage of trees can save money if harvested for wood or fuel, said Toso Bozic, an Alberta Agriculture woodlot specialist.
Strategically removing trees can also provide better wildlife habitat, regenerate more desirable trees, conserve water and protect the soil.
Once trees are thinned out, cows may graze the cleared out areas.
Tree harvesting plans depend on what the producer wants to achieve. Species such as aspen, jack pine and balsam poplar need sunlight for regeneration so clear-cutting may be used in some areas. Selective harvesting may work well for shade tolerant trees such as spruce or fir.
It is also a good idea to remove trees such as aspen if they are mature. Otherwise, they could die, fall over and create a fire hazard.
In the past commercial companies didn’t want aspen but demand is now developing.
“Most think of aspen as a weed,” Bozic said. “Probably within five years it is going be valuable.”
He encouraged farmers to build their own sawmills and think of forested land as an investment. They can more successfully remove trees and turn the wood into products desired by customers, while large companies are not interested because taking out a few trees is not profitable.
“Forest companies are the same as agriculture. They always work on a small margin,” Bozic said.
He said winter harvesting avoids problems with soil compaction from equipment, fire hazards and wildlife disturbance.
Producers should have a plan in place for regenerating new trees before harvesting begins, Bozic added.
