The role of the logger has evolved over time. Traditionally, loggers would fell trees mainly with wood and paper products in mind. Timber harvesting used to be more about the tree than the whole forest. That purpose is still alive and strong, but a greater purpose for the logger has also become clear – stewards of forest health.

Forest health needs, along with evolving technology and economic challenges within the forest industry, has prompted many loggers to step in a new direction. Some have left the forest altogether, but others have found a potential future in biomass harvesting.

Collecting the biomass advances the logger one step further in the harvesting process. Rather than just cutting trees for the mill and leaving the tree branches and tops behind on the ground, the forester can use the rest of the tree – the slash that typically gets left behind and disposed of in ways that can be environmentally harmful. The forester can utilize this slash thanks to the John Deere 1490D Eco-III Energy Harvester, which tightly compresses and wraps the slash to produce handy biomass energy bundles. These bundles provide material for more end products, such as biofuels.

Biomass fuels are useful for a range of products that are both good for the environment and in high demand. Electricity by steam heat generation is one example; blackouts occur across the grid in North America because of a shortage of electric power. And while oil and gas prices skyrocket, burning bundles of biomass in a cogeneration power plant is an option that is slowly gaining recognition. This type of electricity generation is very successful in parts of Europe. Biofuels not only provide much needed power, but do so in an earth-friendly way because they are a renewable resource.

There is no shortage of biomass in the woods, and harvesting biomass from the forest benefits forest health. Biomass needs to be removed anyway, and commonly is removed by slash burning. Here is a way to harvest that material and turn it into something both useful and profitable.

Apart from biofuels there are plenty of additional products that can be manufactured from biomass just as there are from the rest of the tree. Bundles produced by the 1490D can be sold for the manufacturing of adhesives, bio-chemicals, bio-wood products, erosion control material, and more.

As the leader in forestry innovation, John Deere has been and continues to actively seek new solutions for its customers, and has been working with loggers, politicians, energy companies, and others in related industries to make biomass harvesting a tangible solution for loggers. We don’t want to miss the forest for the trees.

The future is changing for loggers. There is great opportunity in caring for the forest, from the trunks to the tree tops and branches – and biomass harvesting is one way for loggers to realize new possibilities.

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