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.
Schmidt has developed a financial package to help producers through the hybrid poplar's growth. The Agri-forestry Advanced Loan Fund offers financial assistance over 12 years. Producers end up borrowing up to 70 percent, leaving them a 30 percent profit when the hybrid poplar stand is harvested and sold.
"We promote it as a conservation crop," he said. "Many of the farmers I work with don't want to deal with a yearly crop. The wood crop itself has been increasing the value of the land because the trees provide a good area for hunting."
While the crop was first touted for its possible role in biomass systems, it's become popular with the paper industry because of its high fibrous content, he said. It has eight times the production of aspen, he said.
Ethanol plants are interested in using hybrid poplar for energy. Plants like the Little Falls facility are installing biomass burners and use hybrid poplar instead of expensive natural gas.
While most hybrid poplar goes toward paper production, about 25 percent is considered "trash." The unusable portions -- branches, twisted tree tops or twisted trunks -- can be used as renewable energy.
The trees are well known for their use in energy production and they sequester carbon and offer phyto remediation or suck nutrients and poisonous chemicals from the soil.
The central Minnesota area, counties such as Todd, Douglas and Otter Tail, are prime growing areas for hybrid poplars, he said.
Schmidt has developed a "Hybrid Poplar 101" workshop with the WesMin RC&D, the Extension Service, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, DNR forestry, NRCS and the state's energy office.
The workshops include tree planting, plant growth, maintenance and marketing, he said.Agri News
