Varietal Forestry - Forest Landowners Association

Accelerating Loblolly Pine
V i t l Forestry
Varietal
F
t in
i the
th
Southeastern USA
Forest Landowners Association
Charleston South Carolina
Charleston,
May 2007
Jeff Wright, ArborGen
Summerville, SC
Presentation Overview
¾ ArborGen Overview
¾ Background on varietal development
¾ Two reasons why varietal forestry
should be accelerated in the
Southeastern USA
¾ Core components of a varietal
forestry program
¾ ArborGen Testing Service model for
accelerating
g varietal forestry
y in the
Southeastern USA
¾ Summary/Needs to move varietal
forestry forward
2 |
¾ ArborGen is dedicated to developing trees that grow
faster, on less land, thus conserving native forests in all
their diversity and complexity for future generations
generations.
3 |
ArborGen Today
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
Headquarters:
q
Summerville,, SC
100+ employees worldwide
Employees in US, New Zealand, and Brazil
World-wide collaborations with academia and industry
Full range of commercial functions
Providing leadership in varietal research and
development
4 |
About ArborGen
¾ Current products
– Loblolly pine varietals
¾ Future products
– Eucalyptus with improved pulping
– Short rotation loblolly pine
– Short rotation hardwoods for pulp and
energy markets
¾ Conservation Collaborations
– American Chestnut restoration
5 |
Background
B
k
d on
Varietal Development
Seedlings From Open-Pollinated Germplasm
Have a Wide Range of Performance
Frequ
uency of Oc
ccurrence
Mean
σ
Poor = 17%
Concept can apply to
numerous measures of
performance:
¾ Growth/Biomass
¾ Straightness
¾ Branching
¾ Disease Resistance
σ
Average = 66%
Very Good = 12%
Performance
7 |
Exceptional = 5%
Typical Loblolly Pine Stand
8 |
Traditional Tree Improvement Has Led to
New Generations of Germplasm With
Improved Performance
Frequenc
cy of Occu
urrence
Generation
2.0
1.0
The same
distribution of
performance
applies
P f
Performance
9 |
Varietal Technology Allows ArborGen to Select the
Highest
g
Performing
g Varieties
Varieties
Seedlings
Select
varieties
provide a
uniform stand
of the highest
quality trees
10 |
Improvements with Varietals
¾ Improved Consistency
¾ Improved Quality
¾ Faster Growth
11 |
Two Reasons We Need to Accelerate
Varietal Forestry
y in the Southeastern USA:
¾ Reason #1. To Enable Forestry on High Value Land
Land Cost
($/Acre)
Regen. Cost
–Yr-0
($/Acre)
Fert. Cost
Yrs 9, 15
($/Acre)
Green
tons/Ac
For 7%
return
Site Index
For 7%
return
MAI For
7% return
$500
$350
$100/trt
78
55
3.9
$1000
$350
$100/trt
114
67
5.7
$1500
$350
$100/trt
147
75
7.4
$2000
$350
$100/trt
181
81
9.0
$2500
$350
$100/trt
214
88
10.7
$3000
$350
$100/trt
250
95
12.5
Annual Tax
$5.00/acre
Capital gains
tax rate 22%
Rotation
length:
20 Years
Blended
Price
$35/Green
ton
400
trees/acre
12 |
Two Reasons We Need to Accelerate
Varietal Forestry
y in the Southeastern USA:
¾ Reason #2: Improve Investment Returns
– Three Keys:
2. Higher Stand Quality
% Sawtimber Potential Trees
80
70
Heig
ght (ft)
60
50
40
30
Clone 93
20
Clone 32
SI 100
10
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
3. Shorter Rotations
35
90
80
70
60
50
40
SI 70
30
25
Years to Ht. of 85
5 Feet
1. Higher Yields
30
20
10
0
OP
20
SI 100
15
10
5
0
Variety
0
2
Age
Powell Bay Variety Test
4
6
Site Index Class
CSER3 Variety Test
Site Index Tables
– Combined with disease resistance and operational
efficiencies gained from uniformity
13 |
8
Components of a Varietal Program
Define
Ideotype(s)
Full
F
ll
Deployment
Focus
F
Breeding
Phase II
Test
S l ti
Selection
Variety
Valuation
Efficient
Production
Variety
Testing
14 |
Influence of Site Index on Final Harvest
Product Class Breakdown 435/200,
Thin at 45’, CC 23*
Tons by P
T
Productt Class
250
Sawtimber
Chip-n-saw
200
Pulpwood
150
30
183
95
100
50
0
85
63
17
25
33
SI 75
SI 85
SI 95
28
Site Index at Base Age 25
* Data Courtesy Dougherty & Dougherty
15 |
Influence of Increasing Site Index
on Final Harvest Value 435/200,
Thin at 45’, CC 23*
Final H
Harvest Value
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$9,115
$4,000
$5,861
$2,000
$3,356
$0
SI 75
SI 85
SI 95
Sit Index
Site
I d att Base
B
Age
A 25
* Data Courtesy Dougherty & Dougherty
16 |
ArborGen Testing Service Provides the
Necessary Selection Rigor
¾ ArborGen Testing Services (ATS)
conducts variety testing on multiple
sites in multiple tree production
locations throughout the
southeastern
th
t
U.S.
US
– Planting Season 2005, 5 sites, 500
varieties
– Planting Season 2006, 14 sites, 1400
varieties
– Planting Season 2007, 14 sites, 1200
varieties
¾ To date, ArborGen has 3100
Varieties in 33 ATS Field Trials
17 |
ArborGen Testing Service Varietal Trial Zones
18 |
Additional ATS Trial Collaborators
¾Clemson University
¾University of Florida
¾University of Georgia
¾Louisiana State University
¾Mississippi State University
¾Virginia Tech University
¾Rayonier
¾Plum Creek
¾Forest Capital Partners
¾GP/Koch Industries
¾South Carolina Forestry Commission
¾Virginia Division of Forests
Opportunities for Advancement
¾ Better projections of Growth and Yield
as well as Value of selected varieties for
improving returns from forestry
investments.
¾ Increased effort to fully integrate varietal
forestry into tree improvement and
silvicultural programs.
programs
¾ Better wood and p
product quality
q
y
evaluation techniques must be
developed to take advantage of the
potential for varieties to improve
p
p
important
p
wood properties and the uniformity of raw
material furnish
20 |
Summary
¾ Advancements are Being Made:
Production testing and selection of
Production,
superior varieties of loblolly pine have
been greatly accelerated and will soon
b d
be
deployed
l
d on a llarge scale.
l
¾ Adoption is Crucial: To have a
g
“wood-basket-wide”
significant
influence on the Southeastern USA
forest resource, steps must be taken to
get this technology adopted by federal
federal,
state, private and industry
stakeholders as soon as
possible.
21 |
Summary
¾ Projection of Yield and Value: One
of the greatest opportunities for
advancing the acceptance of varietal
forestry is projecting yields and
values
l
off selected
l t d varieties
i ti and
d th
their
i
impact on improving returns from
forest investments.
¾ ArborGen’s Leadership: ArborGen
has increased customer cooperative
testing programs and efforts are
greatly expanding in 2007.
22 |
THANK YOU.
YOU
Jeff Wright
843 991 2911
843.991.2911
www.arborgen.com