On this page we want to show you another option that you may find interesting. The golden rule in forestry is; "The bigger your tree, the more valuable it is". This is the same for your Robinia trees. If you want to make a 20 year rotation, you get the benefits of selling your real timber (not just poles) after 15 and 20 years.
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Your projected overall return after one 20 year Robinia rotation:
|
Plantation Size
|
Number of Trees
|
Investment
|
Projected Return
|
ROI
|
| 5 Hectares |
30,000 |
|
|
|
| 10 Hectares |
60,000 |
|
|
|
- This is the initial investment, followed by 4 yearly rates of € 8,750 for the 5 hectares investment and 4 yearly rates of € 17,500 for the 10 hectares investment.
- For the last 10 years there are only management costs, which we estimate at € 7,000 per hectare. Total investment for 5 hectares: € 190,000. Total investment for 10 hectares: € 370,000
- In the table above we have calculated a 6% price increase per year for your Robinia poles, 4% for your biomass and 4% for your land.
Returns per year :
|
Plantation Size
|
Year 10
|
Year 15
|
Year 20
|
Total Return
|
| 5 Hectares |
€ 262,000 |
|
|
|
| 10 Hectares |
€ 524,000 |
|
|
|
Example for one hectare:
- We will plant 6,000 trees in the beginning
- Normal fall out would be about 1,000 trees, leaving 5,000 trees standing after 10 years
- From those 5,000 trees, 3,000 are harvested to sell as poles (6,000). You also harvest some biomass from these trees. This thinning will allow the remaining 2,000 trees to grow bigger.
- 2,000 trees are left standing
- After 15 years 1,000 trees will be harvested
- After 20 years the last 1,000 trees are harvested
The following prices are currently paid:
- Robinia poles: € 6
- Robinia timber: € 500 per m³
- Biomass (renewable energy): € 88 per ton
We have calculated the following yields:
- After 10 years: 3,000 trees = 6,000 poles and 15 tons of biomass
- After 15 years: 1,000 trees = 80 m³ Robinia timber and 7.5 tons of biomass
- After 20 years: 1,000 trees = 130 m³ Robinia Timber and 10 tons of biomass
- After 20 years: 4,000 trees = 35 tons of biomass, these are the trees that were harvested after 10 and 15 years and which have regrown again. From some trees we could also make poles again.
(Source: Robinia Foundation)
