#44 The potential of fast growing biomass trees in agroforestry systems with Michael Weitz

Michael Weitz is a European expert in fast growing biomass trees, with a special passion for Poplar. These fast growing crops are especially interesting for agroforestry systems thanks to their early returns and their capacity to produce ecosystem services early on. Furthermore, the need to find alternatives to fossil fuels and sustainable building materials is leading to evolving economic opportunities for farmers. In this interview we are hitting the nail on the head when it comes to integrating valuable tree crops on our farms! Michael has the ability to zoom into the technical details and zoom out to the bigger picture questions around biomass crops. Enjoy learning about the flexibility and beauty of poplar as well as the challenges that need to be overcome to scale these systems. This is hopefully the first of many interviews on the topic of fast growing trees! TABLE OF CONTENTS 02:41 Introduction 09:24 Biomass crops 16:45 Poplar industry and market 22:57 Flexibility of the poplar crop 29:28 Medium term cycle poplar for agroforestry 34:56 Which cycle to optimise biomass production 37:20 Management requirements 45:00 What is the minimum scale for economic viability? 53:46 Favouring medium cycle on a small scale 57:24 Planting on marginal land 01:06:58 Shouldn’t agricultural land stay dedicated to food production instead of biomass production? 01:18:42 Biomass crops and diversification 01:25:26 Carbon credits and biodiversity credits 01:28:41 Market trends on wood products 01:34:26 Can a third party implement and manage the biomass crop? 01:44:22 How can we diversify biomass species? • RESOURCES • GET IN TOUCH • SUPPORT US •

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#44 The potential of fast growing biomass trees in agroforestry systems with Michael Weitz is an episode from The Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast by Dimitri Tsitos & Etienne Compagnon.

This episode is 2:02:51 long.

This episode was published on Aug 25, 2022.

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