All feedstocks, biorenewables included, have to be sourced from somewhere

All Feedstocks, Biorenewables Included, Have to be Sourced from Somewhere

As our population continues to grow so does the supply and demand of crops. Corn and soybean are two crops in high demand due to being used in a lot of everyday products. In this blog we are going to dive deeper into the differences between natural and plantation forests, the resources that are being implemented to protect forests, and what we can expect for the future.

Natural forests are found all around us and that's because they take up 90% of the forests in the United States. Natural forests do not use fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified species. While natural forests are good for the environment they don’t produce as much wood yield as Plantations. Plantations are becoming more popular as the population continues to grow. Plantations are made to maximize production of wood in the United States. Plantations use fertilizer, and genetically modified soil to produce wood and crops 10 times faster than natural forests. WOW!

Plantation forests are expanding at a rapid rate and are helping to produce more crops to keep up with the demands of stores and the population. Plantations allow farmers to plant seeds and control the growth rate. This type of farming helps with long term sustainability for the crops.

While plantations do show positive effects for companies and farmers, there are many negative effects. Homes are being destroyed! Have you ever thrown a party and the people that you have over destroy your home leaving it a huge mess? Imagine this happening and never being able to clean it up or go back to your home. There are a lot of animals and plants in our forests whose homes are being destroyed due to the growth of plantations. According to the WWC, up to 15 billion trees are being cut down every year. Trees are homes to birds, squirrels, and many more. Plantations are clearing a lot of native forest areas and removing the homes of many plants and animals. In addition, when clearing these forests and planting new ones it removes food for plants and animals to eat, throwing off our ecosystem. Would you want your home destroyed?

Looking ahead at forest trends…

Right now, our forests are declining at a rapid rate. Many trees are being cut down to make room for other land uses. These trees that are being cut, work for our ecosystem by filtering water, supporting wildlife and displaying natural beauty. Most trees are being cut down to make room for plantations to grow corn and soybean. These products are being produced at a rapid rate to try and keep up with the demand of our need for meat and keep the cost down. So you're telling me, we are killing our ecosystem for cheap meat? As farmers get more cows they have a need for more soybean, leading to more plantations being made. Furthermore, when trees are cut down they release CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. Forest loss and damage is the cause of around 10% of global warming. As we continue to destroy natural forests, we are harming our environment a lot more than you probably thought!

You may be asking yourself, what can we do as a community? Environmental Certifications have been implemented for crops and products found in the store. These labels are put on products to ensure customer loyalty, reduce costs, improve credibility, and improve employee satisfaction. You are probably familiar with the sticker/label “USDA Certified Organic”. These are found on a lot of products in stores to tell customers that the product in which they are buying was produced in an eco-friendly way. Products you find in the grocery store aren’t the only things being certified, there are also “forest certification”. When going to stores like Menards or Home Depot, you may see stickers saying the wood is certified. Before today, you may be thinking “cool, some fancy wood!” but no. This sticker means that the wood you are purchasing didn’t cause any environmental damage when it was being harvested.

Two of the most popular wood certifications are SFI and FSC. These companies are working to set standards for farms to meet, and follow the chain-of-custody to see that the product being used actually came from a certified forest. What does a forest have to do to become certified?

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, forest must undergo

management planning
monitoring processes
adherence to state and federal laws
protection of rare, threatened, or endangered species and plant communities
implementation of soil and water quality best management practices
regeneration and reforestation goals
clearcutting average acreage limits
other broad environmental impact considerations.

While this may look like a lot of rules that farms have to follow when cutting down trees, this is how we will protect our environment.

So next time that you are buying wood or products from a store, check to see if there is a certification label before buying it. By doing this, you will be helping the future of our environment.

References

To Improve Crop Yields, Just add Trees

https://www.conservation.org/blog/to-improve-crop-yields-just-add-trees#:~:text=By%20maintaining%20organic%20matter%20in,convert%20more%20forest%20to%20farmland.