All Feedstocks and Biorenewable must be Sourced

 Nick McGillivray

BBE 1002

03/10/2024

All Feedstocks and Biorenewable must be Sourced

Stuff doesn’t just get delivered on a silver platter for the humans living on earth, the feedstocks and biorenewable resources must come from somewhere! There are countless things to consider when thinking about the timber industries and agriculture. It is important for anyone, especially young people to understand some of the key ideas and takeaways from these large industries. Before we dive into the real production process of some of these products, let's look at some of the ways these things are sourced.

Trees: Trees are some of the most used natural resources on our planet. Their sourcing includes many considerations based on if it is economically and environmentally worth it to harvest the tree. Some of these methods include pruning, thinning, and genetic selection. Pruning is the method of cutting branches near the base of the tree to reduce knots. Thinning is the process of cutting down the smaller trees nearby existing large trees to reduce the amount of competition over space within the forest making the existing trees grow larger. Genetic Selection is the process of selecting trees with the best characteristics that are identified and then bred to create more (Lesson 8). 








After these challenging decisions have been made and the logging process has been completed, it is important to know what happens to the wood after it arrives at the place that will turn it into planks of wood. The most important factor is that none of the wood is wasted! The bark is used for fuel, any wood more thick than 2 inches is cut into planks, and the remainder of the wood is turned into chips. This has been by far the best version of production that I have personally seen (Collum).









Agriculture: “May we all get to see those fields of green turn gold,” said Florida Georgia Line singer. Another heavily sourced thing in our production system is the system of agriculture. Obviously plants just don’t grow overnight randomly in a field. There are a lot of different considerations and hard work put into farming! First, the type of farming is the first thing considered, and is generally picked from a small pool of options including yield, varieties, and crop rotation. All options will go hand in hand and use each other to decide what to grow. Yield is the actual amount of crop produced in comparison to the size of land or unit of land size. Varieties is the choice of crop seed that will go best coupled with the area the certain crop is being grown, these seeds can be more weather proof, heat resistant, etc. Crop rotation is a little more complicated, when crop rotations happen, the same crop is not grown on the same plot of land. This is done for many reasons including the reduction of pests, disease, help for soil nutrients, and many others (Lesson 10).

It shows importance that young people inform themselves about biorenewable resources and feedstock. The reason is that it is good to be informed about these matters before trying to eliminate an entire production service without knowing maybe what can change and what can’t. It is also important to know where our food comes from and what factors are considered.

























Works Cited

Collum’s Lumber Products, LLC - Sawmill Tour 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eWUby71Ew

Lesson 8, Woody Biomass Production, BBE 1002, UMN

Lesson 10, Herbaceous Biomass Production, BBE 1002, UMN


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