oak ridge national laboratory u. s. department of energy 1 hybrid poplar production in minnesota on...

1OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORYU. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Hybrid Poplar Production in Minnesota on a Large

Scale

Mark DowningAgricultural Economist

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORYU. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Acknowledgements

• A diverse presentation such as this one benefits from years of on-going collaboration with a variety of backgrounds and disciplines and circumstances. I would like to thank:

• Kate Baldwin, Janet Cushman, Lynn Wright, Anthony Turhollow, Lynn Kszos, Marie Walsh, Bob Perlack, John Stoll, Rick Freeman, Gregg Marland, Robin Graham, Randy Curlee, Rick Pierce, Ron Stoffel, Bob Hansen, Ralph Overend, Teofilo Ozuna, Jonathan Overly, Greg Larson, Dean Schmidt, Ernie Schmitt, Jerry Tuskan, Tom Kroll, Bill Bergusen, Don Riemenschneider, Dan Langseth, Dan Netzer, Terri Lundblad, Sarah Rensink, Sheila Faber, Eric Streed, JoAnn Joannides, Scott Josiah, Burt English, John Ferrell and Steve Hanson.

• Notwithstanding their invaluable contributions, any mistakes or errors within this presentation remain my own responsibility. The views necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT-Battelle.


MN hybrid poplar

• Some project history• Methodology to collect data• Look at cost and yield• Current status• What’s next


Background

• Collaboration• Motivation

– RD&D– Process– Data

collection


Assumptions

• ~1500 acres• 4 clones planted in 1994• 17 landowners• Data collection• Synthesis and analysis


Data Caveat

• May be incomplete• May be incorrect or imprecise• May be miscalculated• May be misleading• Annual costs vs field summaries


Cost of productionAnnual Per-Acre Hybrid Poplar Production Costs

(Range shown by vertical bars; site average shown by line)

(50)

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Stand Age

Co

st p

er

acr

e


Cost of productionoffset disk and plow 15.00tandem disk 8.00disk/chisel 15.00Round- up application 19.00tandem disk cultivate/harrow 8.00burn down and herbicide as needed 10.00apply Linuron/Lorox 34.00tree stock/ship/store 73.00planting cost (8X8) spacing 49.00first cultivation 10.00second cultivation 10.00third cultivation 10.00herbicide application 15.00 AVERAGE COST PER ACRE 276.00


Cost of productionLandowner 14 Operation 1 (1994) 2 3 4 5 6 7

(2000)

Field size 121

Yield Per acre increment 1.618 3.892 5.207 6.652

Site increment 195 469 6.28 802

Cumulative per acre

1.62 5.51 10.72 17.32

Total Cost

Site preparation cultivate 1941

herbicide 2376

Total Preparation 4317

Maintenance Stock 8276 26

Plant 5750 15

Total Planting 14026 41

Maintenance Cultivate/mow 504 756 296 44

herbicide 2703 712 3721 48

insecticide 92 1418 2770 1149

Total Maintenance 3207 1468 4017 136 1466 2770 1149

Average Costs 179 13 33 1 12 23 10


Figure 2Relationship Between Total Cost and Field Size

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Field Size in Acres

$/ac

re i

n

Yea

rs 1

an

d 2


Figure 3 Relationship Between

Maintenance Cost and Field Size

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350Field size in acres

Main

en

an

ce c

ost

in

$/a

cre

years

1-3


Yield

• Weed competition• Soil structure• Landowner commitment• Hand plant vs machine plant• Soil variability


Cost threeFigure 4Site average hybrid poplar production (cumulative)

[Thick line is average of the average across all sites]

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Stand Age

Dry

tons

per

acr

e


Results

• Project with available data• Best of the best clones planted• Pesticide/herbicide labeling• Collaboration – public/private• Synthesis and analysis• New clone sampling on site


Discussion

• Tough to deal with landowners• USDA and DOE funding• USDA and DOE policy• Data collection is tough• Synthesis and analysis


Now what?

• Data collection• DNR scaling, auction and harvest• Highest and best use• CRP• Research continuity

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