BRIDGING PLANTS AND TREES
A consortium is investigating
ag fibers' potential to help alleviate the high demand for
wood
BY DAN LEMKE
Cheap wood stumps are history.
In 1985, aspen stumpage sold for about $2 a cord. Today it
sells for about $55 and can go as high as $95 per cord, says
Dentley Haugesag, forestry products expert for the Minnesota
Department of Employment and Economic Development. “That’s a
big change in 20 years.”
It’s simple economics: the demand for wood fiber has gone
up; the supply has gone down.
That may not be good news for manufacturers, but it could be
for agriculture. At least that’s the hope of the Minnesota
Biofibers Consortium, a group of 40 researchers, industry
experts and companies joined to investigate ag fiber as a
wood-fiber alternative. AURI is a consortium member.
“We’ll be looking at beet pulp, corn stover, wheat and
barley straw, those types of fibers,” says Michael Sparby,
AURI project director. “Even mixing a small percentage of ag
products into the fiber stream would have a huge impact.
AURI is looking at it as additional income for producers.”
Paper-thin supplies
Minnesota forests and tree plantations supply the state’s
paper and lumber industries with millions of tons of wood
each year. But pulp, dimensional lumber and oriented strand
board are stretching the state’s wood supply paper-thin.
The high-demand, high-price trend has been developing over
the past two decades.
Haugesag says Minnesota’s pulp and lumber industry consumes
about 5 million cords of wood each year. Replacing 10 to 15
percent with ag-fiber pulp would require as much as 200,000
dry tons of biomass.
Uniting farm and forest
The consortium will be challenged by wood fiber users’
varying needs. For example, a paper-pulping plant has
different raw-material specifications than an
oriented-strand-board manufacturer. Part of the Biofiber
Consortium’s goal is to develop a catalog of ag-fiber
information useful to various wood industry segments.
Haugesag says the group, formed earlier this year, is
identifying potential ag-fiber opportunities that will
require more specific research. The University of Minnesota
Department of Biobased Products will conduct any required
testing, while AURI will connect producers with emerging
technologies and opportunities.
“We’re trying to build a bridge between agriculture and the
forestry industry,” adds Haugesag. “We’re not looking to
replace wood, but if we can account for 10 to 15 percent of
the fiber needs with ag biomass, it would help cut demand
and possibly lower prices.”
Economic test
The bottom line will determine whether wood and paper
industries take a serious look.
“Economics will have to drive this or nothing will happen,”
Haugesag admits.
“But if some ag products can be used as a substitute, it may
lower the cost of wood and give some of these plants room to
maneuver.”
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