Michael Blazier, LSU AgCenter assistant professor of forestry, far right, talks about his work on eucalyptus trees at a research project near Merryville in Beauregard Parish. Eucalyptus is grown worldwide for its commercial use to make paper and other manufactured products. (Photo by Bruce Schultz. Click for downloadable image.)

News Release Distributed 03/31/10

MERRYVILLE, La. – A tree from Down Under could help provide rural Louisiana landowners with additional cash by putting idle property to work.

LSU AgCenter scientists are involved in a joint research project with Texas A&M University to find the best growing methods for eucalyptus on land normally used for cutover pine forests and on idle pasture and farmland.

The LSU AgCenter recently sponsored a tour of eucalyptus test plots in Beauregard Parish near here. Eucalyptus is also being grown in southeast Texas.

The tree matures to a size suitable for harvesting as pulpwood in six to eight years, reaching up to 70 feet tall, compared to pine trees that require 12 to 15 years to reach that size.

A paper mill at Evadale, Texas, wants to use eucalyptus to meet shortfalls in pulpwood that occurs during wet months that prevent loggers from harvesting pine and hardwood trees.

Michael Blazier, LSU AgCenter forestry specialist, said MeadWestvaco Corp., the company that owns the Evadale, Texas, paper mill, has planted 3,000 acres in Texas and Louisiana, and the company has been expanding that amount by about 1,000 acres each year since 2007.

Once cellulosic ethanol is developed, eucalyptus would be an excellent feedstock, Blazier said. Plants that could produce wood pellets for the home heating market are being built in the United States, with one nearing completion in southeast Louisiana, he said.

He said eucalyptus has been hybridized, and cold-tolerant varieties are being developed.

Much of Blazier’s work has focused on eliminating competing vegetation by using herbicides when eucalyptus is first planted.

“It’s less forgiving than southern pine when it comes to competition,” Blazier said.

After three to four years, he said, the trees establish a full canopy that blocks sunlight and hinders growth of other vegetation. It also requires fertilizers to get established.

Because eucalyptus is difficult to establish without intensive cultivation, its threat as an invasive species like the Chinese tallow tree is low, Blazier said.

Joe Pitcheralle Jr., eucalyptus operations manager for Meadwestvaco, said eucalyptus pulp makes high quality paper and has high energy potential.

He said eucalyptus chips can be used for landscaping. “Eucalyptus makes one of the best mulches out there.”

John Johnson of Meadwestvaco said the company is interested in leasing tracts of at least 50 acres. The company would plant the trees, maintain them and harvest the crop.

Johnson said the preliminary results with a few species indicate some species can tolerate heavy clay soil, and some species of eucalyptus show relatively good tolerance of salt. The eucalyptus has shown it can recover from hurricane damage.

“Hurricane Ike pretty much laid everything flat,” he said. Now the trees have recovered and are growing with just a few signs of the storm’s effects.

Paul Coreil, LSU AgCenter vice chancellor for extension, said he was impressed with the potential of eucalyptus for Louisiana.

“This could be a viable option for idle farmland right now for the prairie land of southwest Louisiana,” Coreil said.