Value - Added Opportunities for Straw In Alberta

Transcription

1 Value - Added Opportunities for Straw In Alberta David Spiess, P.Eng. Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development Presentation to the Alberta Research Council Fields of Fibre Symposium Edmonton, Alberta June 16, 2003

2 Why is the industrial use of straw important in Alberta? It has implications for the health our Agricultural soils. The livestock industry is affected. May provide an additional income source for grain producers. If managed properly it has the potential to become a sustainable and green part of Alberta s Economy. Has the potential to provide jobs.

3 Ag-Fibre Working Group Ed Phillipchuck 1 Alan Dooley 1 John Chang 1 Randi Sandbu 1 Mervin Empey 1 Kwesi Ampong- Nyarko 1 David Spiess 1 Wade Chute 2 Identification of valueadded opportunities in ag-fibres based on fibre supply, potential applications, current and future markets and constraints to market access and development. 1 Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Development 2 Alberta Research Council

4 What is the Potential for Straw? How much and what kinds of straw there is in the province? How Variable are these estimates? Where is it likely located?

5 Census, Soils, Provincial Survey, and Geographic Information Crop production areas, and cattle numbers 2001 Census Soil characteristics Average Livestock bedding and feeding requirements ( ) Yearly Crop yield ( ) Crop Straw to grain ratios (harvest indexes)

6 Net Straw Net Straw = mean of ((Gross Straw Soil Requirement - Cattle Requirement 2001 ) / Study Area) Mean tonnes per square kilometer of air dry crop straw available for purposes other than that required for cattle or Soil conservation purposes within a study area between (1985 and 2001).

7 Gross Straw = Gross Straw (Cropped Area 2001 x Yield x grn_lbs x s2g x 1/hs2ts) Tonnes of air dry straw produced by a crop within a particular Study area for a given year between Cropped Area: 2001 cropped area for wheat and winter wheat, barley, oats, and flax crops within a study area. Cropped area was obtained from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture custom processed by Soil Landscape of Canada (SLC)polygon area. Yield: Grain yield for wheat and winter wheat, barley, oats, and flax crops within an SLC. Values were obtained from Statistics and Data Development Unit, AAFRD from 1985 to Crop Weight to Crop Volume: The typical weight of a particular grain crop in pounds per bushel (Statistics and Data Development Unit, AAFRD). Straw to Grain Ratio: The expected amount of field straw harvested for each amount of grain harvested (Stumborg, Townley-Smith, and Coxworth, 1995). Harvested Straw to Total Straw Ratio: The total field straw expected for each unit of harvested straw (Stumborg, Townley-Smith, and Coxworth, 1995).

8 Soil Conservation Requirement Based on a study area s vulnerability to wind and water erosion. Each study area within the province was assigned a straw (biomass) requirement on the basis of the predominant wind erosion and water erosion vulnerability. The greater of the two biomass requirements was taken as the Soil Conservation Requirement.

9 Soil Conservation Requirement Continued Wind erosion vulnerability takes into account the predominant surface texture, and calcareous class of the soils in a study area. Water erosion vulnerability considers the predominant slope assigned to a study area.

10 Cattle Requirement Cattle Requirement 2001 = Total Cattle and Calves 2001 x (Bedding + Feeding) Cattle Straw: Straw used by Cattle for both feeding and bedding (tonnes/study Area). Bedding: Regional straw bedding requirement in units of tonnes per animal per year (Economics and Competitiveness Division, AAFRD average survey results ) Feeding: Regional straw feeding requirement in units of tonnes per animal per year (Economics and Competitiveness Division, AAFRD average survey results )

11 Provincial Overview Table 1. Crop straw estimates for potential industrial applications in Alberta (tonnes). Crop Mean Std Maximum Minimum wheat 3,232, ,297 4,470,874 1,477,637 barley 1,985, ,996 2,809, ,175 oats 937, ,811 1,329, ,495 flax 3,711 1,207 6, total 6,158,946 1,418,920 8,122,149 2,840,226 The Cattle straw requirement in the 2001 census year was estimated at some 3.5 million tonnes. The Soil conservation requirement in any given year was estimated to be about 5.7 million tonnes.

12 Provincial Distribution for All Straw Types Flagstaff County

13 Provincial Variability for all Straw Types Flagstaff County

14 Provincial Distribution of Wheat Straw Flagstaff County

15 Provincial Variability of Wheat Straw Flagstaff County

16 Best Industrial Straw Producing Counties and Municipal Districts Based on Minimum Values Flagstaff County

17 Best Industrial Straw Producing Counties and Municipal Districts Based on Average Values Flagstaff County

18 Minimum Straw Estimates Within a 100 km Radius of Athabasca and Lloydminster

19 Some Areas Requiring Further Effort Include: Verification of the amount of straw producers will release and at what price. More research concerning the potential of dedicated biomass crops in Alberta. Collecting and or Measuring the basic physical characteristic of fibre from different sources of biomass. Identifying current and future market and their constraints.

20 Conclusions Opportunities for industrial use of straw exist in the Lamont, Minburn, Two Hills, Beaver and Camrose counties. There is some opportunity in the Clear Water, Mountain View, Rocky View and Foothills County and Municipal Districts as well. Straw supply is variable over time and space in Alberta but there does appear to be room for one or two large scale industrial application in the province.

21 Acknowledgements Dale Kaliel, Economics and Competitiveness Division, AAFRD Chanlang Su, Statistics and Data Development Unit, AAFRD Various Member of Conservation & Development Branch, AAFRD Ag-Fibre Working Group

22 David J. Spiess, P.Eng. Resource Data Engineer Resourse Data Unit, AAFRD 206, street Edmonton, AB T6H 5T (office) (fax)