conifer plantation....

crackcrack30

Hi guys,

As u can see from my other posts i,m getting around to planting off some marginal land this year, several small areas ranging from 2 - 5 acres.

As the smaller areas of conifer will probably never be commerically viable to thin or fell when costs are taken in to consideration im trying to decide on the best mix for future needs.

I've heard that "small plantations" in the future will probably be chipped on site for drying then boiler needs, is this an accepted industry prediction?

& what would be the desirable mix of species to best position onself for future sales be they commericial or private (ie firewood) on this size of plantation??

thanks as always......

greenfingers89

crackcrack30 wrote: »

I've heard that "small plantations" in the future will probably be chipped on site for drying then boiler needs, is this an accepted industry prediction?

& what would be the desirable mix of species to best position onself for future sales be they commericial or private (ie firewood) on this size of plantation??
.

small areas can be tricky, in terms of guaranteeing a market for firewood its worth looking at ash or alder. otherwise i wouldnt get too carried away with mixtures, if the griound is very poor i'd be swaying towards sitka rather than lodgepole pine.

its certainly a possibility that it will be chipped on site, i wouldnt be so sure of that if its broadleaves though. it may be a case that conifers on small areas will be left unthinned and cleared early which will still stack up financially on a lot of sites. some small areas are thinned on a 1 in 4 line thinning regime to allow for a certain amount of higher value products