Enhancing softwood and hardwood plantations site productivity and subsequent operational efficiency by use of an innovative clean-row establishment 'system'.
Enhancing softwood and hardwood plantations site productivity and subsequent operational efficiency by use of an innovative clean-row establishment 'system'.
Evaluation (safety, sustainability, establishment system efficiency & growth) of mechanical treatment of evenly distributed harvest residues by sweeping into rows to create a residue clear tilled row for subsequent operations.
This project seeks to identify a best combination of investment of finite funds in site preparation by deconstructing silvicultural regimes for Radiata pine and Tasmanian bluegums in the Green Triangle and inserting a novel system combining harvest residue conservation by strategic placement and soil tillage. A best combination is to be defined by biological, OHS, management and financial outcomes.
The University of South Australia will collaborate on this project with:
Australian Bluegum Plantations Pty Ltd, Forest Products Commission, Green Triangle Forest Products, HQPlantations Pty Ltd, Hancock Victorian Plantations, Midway Plantations Pty Ltd, OneFortyOne Plantations, SFM, Sylva Systems, Nuland Contracting and Forest and Wood Products Australia
A compartment level trial will implement routine (control) treatments (chopper rolling, ridging and use of a Bracke) and clean-row treatments in blocks. The control treatments will alternate with clean-row treatment options to provide a consistent control basis across sites. The control treatment will be defined based on what would have been the usual treatment for each site. This will allow capture of production rates, operator
thoughts and broad-scale implications. A series of perpendicular sub-treatments are to be applied across the blocks of residue management and tillage treatments. These will include complete weed control and manual removal of any missed harvest residues. Other options will be determined. Assessment will include the implications of inclusion of these systems on the other components of establishment (enhancing, cost savings etc), the tree growth outcomes (e.g. survival and height at 9 months) and whether the residue system enables other novel inputs to establishment (e.g. precision systems). Data will be captured by qualitative (e.g. interviews of planting contractors) and quantitative methods (e.g. survival and tree measurement). Analysis will be to determine impacts and implications.
Given that most plantations are subsequent rotation sites, where ground-based machines can access and where processing has been at the stump, clean row establishment systems are applicable. It is possible that inclusion of these systems will have a positive impact on other elements of establishment (e.g. reducing costs and/or improving outcomes) while reducing risks (e.g. enhanced personnel safety and planting stock deaths).
Expected specific impacts are to be as follows.
The project seeks to assess the impact of novel harvest residue management systems combined with soil tillage options. The objective is to evaluate operational costs (e.g. across the whole of establishment), site sustainability (e.g. management of harvest residues and soil moisture) and silvicultural benefits (e.g. tree survival, initial growth and weed competition) associated with tree planting on reduced residue and tilled beds adjacent to inter-rows with concentrated harvest residues.