Economy and Ecology
The decision to plant a fuelwood crop, like any other planting decision,
must be based on the economics and site quality of the potential plantation.
Since a fuelwood plantation requires a substantial investment of labor and
capital, you must weigh the costs and benefits of this kind of land use
against alternative uses. If you already have an established, mature forest,
for instance, it may be uneconomical to establish a new plantation. Good
management of a four- to five-acre woodlot will provide you with all the
wood you need to heat your home and will also increase the growth and timber
value of your woodland. On the other hand, if you have poor row crop land
that has been degraded by erosion or nutrient depletion, both economics
and ecology point toward establishing more permanent cover than row crops
provide. If you could use or sell fuelwood, an energy plantation would be
ideal in this situation.
Economy
The bulk of expenditures for a fuelwood plantation will be made in the first
few years of establishment and during harvest. The site preparation cost
for a cleared field will average around $60 to $75 per acre. This figure
includes the cost of energy, machine operation, equipment maintenance, depreciation,
fuel, and labor. Another large expenditure will be the purchase of planting
stock. Tree seedlings can be obtained from state or private nurseries or
grown from seeds or cuttings. A source of more information on growing trees
from seed is given at the end of this circular (see Sources
of Additional Information). Procedures for rooting cuttings will be
described later. If you don't count in the cost of your own labor, growing
trees from seed or cuffings saves money, but it also requires considerably
more time and effort than using seedlings.
Order forms and a current price list for stock from the state tree nurseries
can be obtained from the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forest
Resources (see Sources) or from commercial
nurseries. Fuelwood plantations should
be planted with at least 250 trees per acre. Biomass plantations could require
up to several thousand trees per acre.
Other early expenditures will include the purchase of soil conditioners
and fertilizer if the soil is especially poor, and the purchase of herbicides
to reduce weed competition in the first few years. It is uneconomical to
install a permanent irrigation system for trees. New seedlings are at some
risk from drought, but the risk of dehydration generally decreases after
the first year and is best avoided by planting early and by temporarily
carrying or pumping in water if necessary during the first summer. Good
weed control will also reduce losses caused by drought. Other risks to the
stand at both early and late stages include losses caused by fire, insects,
wind, ice, or flooding. During the growing season, trees are generally less
susceptible to these perils than are other crops, but since they are perennials,
they are at risk throughout the year.
One advantage of raising trees is that they require far less attention and
management than do annual crops. After it is established, the stand may
require thinning, replanting, or pruning once every five to ten years. An
additional economic advantage is the lowered property tax rate on forestland.
The Illinois Farmland Assessment Act and the Illinois Forestry Development
Act offficially limit the tax on managed forestland to one-sixth the equalized
assessed value of the lowest certified productivity index for crops. The
federal government also has costsharing programs that lower the cost of
establishing and maintaining forests. Information on these programs is available
from district foresters or the Consolidated Farm Services Agency (CFSA) office in your county.
Against the costs of fuelwood farming, you must weigh the potential economic
benefits. These will vary with the quality of the site, the type of trees
raised, and the intensity of the treefarming system. An intensive, high-density,
short-rotation, woody biomass plantation can yield two to ten tons or more
(green weight) of chippable woody biofuel per acre per year. When airdried,
this wood will represent 20 to 75 million Btu of heat. Assuming 50 percent
efficiency for wood-fired heating units and 65 percent efficiency for units
requiring fossil fuels, a yield of two tons of green wood per year could
replace 110 gallons of fuel oil, 155 gallons of LP gas, or 143 therms of
natural gas. You should be able to get several coppice harvests from a single
planting of a biomass species, in which case the higher establishment costs
will be offset by multiple harvests. Selected cottonwood clones grown on
a twenty-year rotation and at a density of 200 trees per acre would yield
an average of seven to ten cords of wood per acre per year, or 90 to 130
million Btu of heat from the air-dried wood. With fuelwood prices ranging
from $30 to $60 per face cord of split, dried wood, this
yield could generate gross fuelwood sales of $500 to $1,500 per acre per
year, depending on local markets, wood quality, and the yield from your particular
site.
Ecology
In addition to the economic costs and benefits of fuelwood farming, you
should also consider its ecological benefits. The taller, more permanent
cover that trees provide differs significantly from annual row crop cover.
Present throughout the year, forests deter erosion by wind and water. On
bottomland shes, trees slow flooding and siltation of rivers; on upland
sites, they increase soil moisture, equalize the distribution of snow, and
reduce damaging winds and dust storms. These qualities make increased forest
cover especially desirable in areas like central Illinois. Forested watersheds
have superior water quality and a greater diversity and abundance of wildlife.
Moreover, trees like black locust-like other leguminous crops-will tolerate
poor sites and will improve both the structure and nitrogen status of depleted
soils.
Fuelwood forests can be situated on idle or marginal land-on odd-shaped
patches of property and along streams, roads, or fencerows. Economists estimate
that if such parcels of land were forested, the woodland acreage of Illinois
would be increased by at least 25 percent, or one million acres. One of
the most significant but unmeasurable benefits of reforestation is aesthetic:
trees enhance the beauty of the landscape.
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