Conference Reports – 11th Biennial

Short Rotation Woody Crops Operations Working Group Conference

October 11-13, 2016 Ft. Pierce, FL

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Pre-Conference Field Tours

  • Florida Grown Specialties 
  • Eucalyptus Clutivar Nursery  
  • Eucalyptus Tissue Culture Laboratory
  • Corymbia Torelliana Seed Orchard

Wednesday, October 12, 2016   Opening Remarks

  • Randy Rousseau, Mississippi State University and SRWCOWG Co-Chair
  • Pat Minogue, University of Florida

Opening Plenary Session  

  • Matt Langholtz, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Billion-Ton Update [Slides]  

Economic, Environmental, & Social Values

Moderator: Marilyn Buford, US Forest Service

  • Robert Radics, Use of multi-attribute decision support system to compare the social, environmental, and economic impacts of using woody feedstocks for pellet production [Abstract]
  • Kyle Fabbro, Optimal Management and Productivity of Eucalyptus grandis on Former Phosphate Mined and Citrus Lands in Central And Southern Florida: Influence of Genetics and Spacing [Abstract]
  • Matt Langholtz, Economic and environmental analysis of tree crops on marginal lands in Florida [Abstract][Slides]

Economic, Environmental, & Social Values

Moderator: Lynn Wright, WrightLink Consulting

  • Timothy Young, A spatially explicit economic analysis of Eucalyptus benthamii for short-rotation biomass in the Southern United States [Abstract][Slides]  
  • Patricia Townsend, A roadmap to the dual benefits of poplar: A bioenergy crop and a wastewater management tool [Abstract]
  • Ronald Zalesny, Ecosystem services of rotation-age hybrid poplars used for phytoremediation [Abstract][Slides]
  • Daniel de Souza, Nutrient removal in willow biomass harvested in Northern New York [Abstract]
  • Menberu Bitew, Modeling hydrologic impacts of intensive woody biomass feedstock production in the southeastern U.S. [Abstract
  • Robert Froese, Tradeoffs for environmental sustainability: Water yield and poplar yield when deploying biomass production in the Northern Great Lakes Region [Abstract] [Slides]
  • Sheng Yang, Spatial life cycle assessment (LCA) of future short-rotation willow biomass crops in 5 counties in northern New York [Abstract]

Feedstock Harvesting, Processing, Upgrading & Stabilization

Moderator: Fei Pan, Michigan State University

  • Jaya Tumuluru, Grinding, drying, and densification characteristics of lodgepole pine and eucalyptus biomass [Abstract]  
  • Zach Carter, A traditional ground-based system for woody biomass harvesting in short rotation woody crops (SRWC) plantations – a case study in Michigan [Abstract]
  • Daniel de Souza, Determining the effects of felling method and season of year on coppice regeneration [Abstract][Slides]
  • Kevin Hall, Modeling the production of short-rotation Eucalyptus species for biomass in the southeastern United States [Abstract]
  • Yingqian Lin, Willow harvesting used a small-scale system in Michigan [Abstract]
  • Tim Rials, Characterization of hybrid poplar properties: Preliminary results [Abstract][Slides]
  • Dana Mitchell, In-field transport of woody crops [Abstract][Slides]
  • Rafael Santiago, Coppicing evaluation in the southeast of the U.S. to determine harvesting methods [Abstract][Slides]

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Genetics

Moderator: Ron Zalesney, US Forest Service

  • Donald Rockwood, Status of eucalyptus tree improvement in Florida [Abstract][Slides]
  • Kyung-Hwan Han, Advanced biomass tree crop technology [Abstract]
  • William Headlee, Difference among and within poplar genotypes for cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin concentrations [Abstract][Slides]
  • Raymond Miller, Premature selection and inadequate testing of willow biomass varieties results in significant losses for growers [Abstract] [Slides]
  • Randy Rousseau, Black willow selection and performance in Mississippi [Abstract][Slides]

Production Systems

Moderator: Tim Rials, University of Tennessee

  • Alexander Ewald, Fertilizer, density, and weed management practices to optimize poplar productivity in coastal North Carolina, U.S.A.[Abstract]
  • Solomon Ghezehei, Early survival and growth of poplars grown on North Carolina Piedmont and mountain marginal lands [Abstract]
  • Timothy Volk, Changes in willow biomass production over multiple rotations [Abstract]
  • Jeff Wright, Eucalypt tree improvement and clonal deployment in guangxi, China [Abstract][Slides]
  • Maliwan Haruthaithanasan, Eucalyptus production in Thailand [Abstract][Slides]

Wrap Up with Conference Summary
Randy Rousseau, Mississippi State University & Tim Rials, The University of Tennessee
Poster Session