Sow, you want to cut restocking costs?

摘要

Forest establishment and regeneration in the UK has primarily been planting based. Natural regeneration is sometimes considered, but is rarely viewed as a commercially viable option. Establishment and regeneration costs are getting unacceptably high in an industry that seems to be continually getting closer to the margins of profitability. Could direct seeding be the answer? asks Gavin Cruickshank, NewForest Oy, Finland. In the world's boreal forests, direct seeding is widely used as a means of commercial forest regeneration. In Finland, about 54% of all pine regeneration is achieved with direct seeding (around 34000ha in 2001 according to the Finnish Statistical Yearbook 2002). Almost all of the seeding is done mechanically.