MWV Corp May 2015 Availability of short fiber near the mill Cost - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Peter W. Hart, John Johnson, Ricardo Paim MWV Corp May 2015

 Availability of short fiber near the mill…  Cost of long hauling short fiber to the mill…  Texas mill uses about 2/3 short fiber…  Southern Brazil has significant amount of higher elevation land subject to frost that cannot support current plantation efforts.

 E. benthamii  E. amplifolia  E. macarthurii  E. viminalis  E. dorrigoensis  Selected land races of E. camaldulensis

 E. globulus  E. nitens  E. Gunnii  E. dalrympleana

 General bulk seeds show significant variation  Low yield volumes per hactare  Up until 2011 limited seed availability  Only enough to supply 500 hectare /yr program  Currently enough for about 20X more.  Poor uniformity  Inferior pulp physical properties

 E. benthamii ideally suited for genetic manipulation through selective breeding  Half-sibling block plantings starting this year  Expect significant gains in volume, improved cold tolerance, improved plantation uniformity  Next round plans to look at  Specific gravity  Fiber yield

 Want enhanced growth, improved fiber yield and quality, improved disease and insect tolerance…along with cold tolerance  Currently limited by  Availability of desirable flowering mothers, pollen parents  Cumbersome import/export laws for plant material

 Have typically been opportunistic.  Mother trees from in-door breeding orchards  Randomly obtained pollen from various sources  Crosses to date in greenhouse and field trials in SE United States include  E. grandis X E. benthamii  E. dunnii X E. benthamii  E. benthamii X E. dunnii

 The US program has greatly benefited from guidance and training from our Brazilian brethren.  Rigesa has provided most of the bulk production seed through their orchards or through their commercial contacts  Training in seedling production, field test design, plantation establishment and culture.  Interspecific efforts relied heavily upon Rigesa breeding facility, staff, and outside contacts.

 Southern US supplies regular, multiple, and varied cold/frost events  Early and late season frosts  Rapid temperature drops  Prolonged freezing conditions  Freezing rains  Snow  Families screened in US may be perfect fit for similar, higher altitude regions in southern Brazil and other areas in South America.

One site 1 yr old trees completely encased in ice!

 For E. benthamii  Trees snapped at bifurcations  Some foliage loss  Slight delayed start to early spring growth  Some other species completely killed

 Need to evaluate both High Yield and Bleachable Grade Pulps  In Brazil (high yield) use as a pure species  In Texas (bleachable grade) use as a partial replacement of mixed southern hardwoods

15.00 14.00 13.00 Dunni - Kappa 15.3 Benthamii - Kappa 15.3 12.00 11.00 10.00 Tensile Kgf 9.00 8.00 7.00 6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 Canadian Standard Freeness mL

 Lab Cook Results  Yield slightly higher  Screened Rejects Lower As a result of favorable lab studies, two mill scale trials were conducted using E. macarthuri grown in South Carolina – one w/ 42% sub, other w/ 33% sub – No changes in standard cooking or bleaching procedures required.

 Over 4050 hectares planted in Texas area  Two Brazilian seed orchards providing half-sibling families to be planted as family blocks Fall 2015 ( E. benthamii top performers)  Texas field trials established for  E. amplifolia  E. grandis X benthamii  E. dunni X benthamii  Several pulping studies have been performed  Future genetic improvements being planned and evaluated

Comments/Questions One Year Old E. benthamii Southeast TX