Forest Netters Let us settle this hemp vs. tree thing "mono e mono." There are several "fiber farms" that are being established throughout the US. These fiber farms use trees to produce fibers for making paper. Why not invite the hemp farmers to grow hemp at the "fiber farms" using their methods alongside the tree farms. An inventory of inputs could be taken and compared at the end of the tree rotation. How much energy used, how much chemicals used, and how much fiber produced? Likewise, the hemp/kenaf farmers could invite the "fiber" farmers to come and grow trees alongside the hemp/kenaf fields. Do we have any takers, or do we just continue to rely on supposition? (By the way, the interest in hemp/kenaf seems to peak about every 20 years. In the 1950's Kimberly-Clark grew kenaf in Alabama as a potential source of wood fiber). David South School of Forestry Auburn University, AL 36849-5418 USA dsouth@forestry.auburn.edu 334-844-1022 334-844-1084 (FAX) http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/coops/sfnmc/sfnmc.html ========================================================================= The world population is expected to double by the year 2100. Therefore the annual demand for wood for energy (etc.) will increase and might double (to more than 7 billion m3/yr). To provide plantation wood for people in the future, support the planting of trees on pastureland. Set a goal of converting 8 million ha of pastureland/yr for the next 55 years. This would increase tree plantations to about 5% of the world's landbase. =========================================================================
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