André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Economic analysis of different models of shelterbelts used to protect hog barns André Vézina, forest engineer, M. Sc. Christian Rivest, technologist Frédéric Lebel, rural economist

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Breakdown of the presentation  History of the project  Description of windbreaks and the farm that is seeking protection  Description of the economic parameters  Results

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Why conduct an economic study?  Arguments to convince the producers  Lack of information on the subject  Great demands for windbreaks  Momentum needed to adopt this new way of doing things

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière History of the project  Project conducted by the Syndicat des producteurs de porc de la Mauricie  Evaluate the economic stakes of planting windbreaks around livestock buildings  Evaluate various windbreak models  Develop a decision-making tool for consultants

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Collaborators  Guy Beauregard, MAPAQ  Serge Dupond, MRC de Maskinongé  Camille Caron, MAPAQ  Jean-Pierre Hivon, Le groupe Envir-Eau-Sol inc  Steeve Lampron, Syndicat des producteurs de porc de la Mauricie  Raymond Leblanc, Fédération des producteurs de porc du Québec  Patrrick Lupien, Syndicat des producteurs de bois de la Mauricie  Alexandre Tourigny, UPA de la Mauricie Project paid for by CDAQ express

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Methodology  Collection period: period required to recover investment  Discounted margin:Revenues – expenditures The resulting margins have been adjusted to constant dollars using a year of reference while keeping in mind the historic discounting rate.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Methodology  The inflation rate is based on historic price indexes at time of purchase  Opportunity cost for the rent for money based on a historic discount rate  Simulations over 40 years to take into account the harvest of the hardwood trees

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Reduction in heating costs  Hedgerows aged 0 to 10 years: 0%  Hedgerows aged 10 to 20 years: 2,5%  Hedgerows aged 20 to 40 years: 10% These savings apply to the models with at least one row of non-deciduous trees. For the hedgerows made up of deciduous trees only, the reduction is only 40% of the rates listed above.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Reduction in snow removal costs  Hedgerows aged 0 to 5 years: 0%  Hedgerows aged 5 to 10 years: 10%  Hedgerows aged 10 to 40 years: 20% These savings apply to the models with at least one row of non-deciduous trees or one row of shrubs.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Revenues  Wood prices listed by the buyers in June 2006  Wood volumes from windbreaks were validated by field measurements during the summer of 2006  Harvesting revenues from lumber  The tops of hardwood trees are also sold as firewood

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Revenues  Fruit harvest:  Yields and prices have been calculated using data on white elderberry from the CEPAF (1.25 kg/stem/year)

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Establishment costs  For a 700 m hedgerow planted on plastic mulch (70% grant included ):  Costs for purchasing and vegetation transportation  Costs for material (plastic mulch, broches and collerettes)  Labour costs associated to preparation and plantation  Soil preparation

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Maintenance costs  Replacement of trees that have died during the first year  Mowing during the first 5 years  Shearing from 2 to 10 years  Pruning from 10 to 30 years

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Loss of harvesting land  50% of the establishment area  Width of the hedgerow adjusted according to the age and the number or rows  Loss of revenue from one rotation  Corn-grain/corn-grain/soya

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Windbreak models to protect livestock buildings  6 models recommended in eastern Canada  1 to 3 rows of trees or shrubs  Height of vegetation at planting stage: cm (except for one model where it measures 1.5 to 2 m)  Length of the hedgerow: 700 m  Plantation on plastic mulch

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Single-row models  Non-deciduous trees  Spruce and hybrid poplar  Hardwood species and shrubs  2 metre spacing between vegetation

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière

Hybrid poplar-spruce with 2 m spacing, 2 years, La Pocatière

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière

Red ash – Red oak (17 years, 2.5 m) Sandy loam, St-Aubert de l’Islet

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière 2- or 3-row models  2 rows: Hybrid poplar/non-deciduous trees  2 rows: Hardwoods/non-deciduous trees  3 rows: Hybrid poplars/non-deciduous trees/hardwoods

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière

Hybrid poplar with 2 m spacing White spruce with 3 m spacing FRR-phyo- CHGF-viburnum with 2 m spacing 2 years, sandy loam, St- Pascal de Kamouraska

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière After 5 years

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Description of the farm seeking protection  Start-to-finish type of farm  150 sows producing 2924 swine  915 swine at finishing stage  maternal pig house m 2  finishing pig house m 2  farm road m  heating costs: $10 000/year

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Results  Collection period: period required to recover investment.  Discounted margin: Revenues – expenditures. The resulting margins have been adjusted to constant dollars using a year of reference while keeping in mind the historic discounting rate.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Number of rows Tree species Cumulative discounted margin after 5 years ($) Cumulative discountedm argin after 10 years ($) Cumulative discounted margin after 20 years ($) Cumulative discounted margin after 40 years ($) Recupe- ration delay (years) 1Spruce, pine or cedar Hybrid poplar and spruce Hardwoods and shrubs Hybrid poplar/spruce, pine or cedar Hardwoods/spruce, pine or cedar Hybrid poplar/spruce, pine or cedar/hardwoods

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Distribution of cumulative discounted margin for a single-row windbreak of hybrid poplar and spruce Revenues from heating savings Revenues from snow removal savings Revenues from timber harvest

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Distribution of cumulative discounted margin for a 3-row windbreak of hybrid poplar, spruce and hardwoods Revenues from heating savings Revenues from snow removal savings Revenues from timber harvest

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière snow removal heating collection period poplar hardwood

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Num ber of rows Tree species Cumulati ve discounte dmargin after 5 years ($) Cumulati ve discounte dmargin after 10 years ($) Cumulati ve discounte dmargin after 20 years ($) Cumulative discounted margin after 40 years ($) Recupe -ration delay (years) 3 Hybrid poplar/spruce, pine or cedar/hardwoods Hybrid poplar/spruce, pine or cedar/hardwoods (without a grant) Hybrid poplar/spruce, pine or cedar/hardwoods (with large trees) Impacts of grants and large trees

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Distribution of cumulative discounted margin for a single-row windbreak of hybrid poplar and spruce Costs of establishing the hedgerow Costs due to loss of harvesting land Maintenance costs

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Distribution of cumulative discounted margin for a 3-row windbreak of hybrid poplar, spruce and hardwoods Costs of establishing the hedgerow Costs due to loss of harvesting land Maintenance costs

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Summary (discounted margin)  Flips to the plus side in 10 to 20 years  Between $ and $ at the end of 40 years  Main revenue: reduction in heating and snow removal costs  Main cost: maintenance

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Summary  A single row of non-deciduous trees provides a slightly lower discounted margin than those of 2 or 3 row hedgerows also including hardwoods or poplars that can be harvested.  However, the maintenance, harvest and wood tranformation required for hedgerows with two or three rows generate more economic activity.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Summary  Furthermore, it is much easier to ensure long-term protection with the models using two or three rows rather than just one.  Finally, the benefits to biodiversity and carbon sequestration are generally superior in the models with more than one kind of vegetation.

André Vézina, ITA campus La Pocatière Conclusion  Have to quantify the other EGS (ecological goods and services) stemming from shelterbelts  Carbon sequestration  Biodiversity  Landscapes