Forest Products Industry
John Deere adds Smooth Boom Control Technology for Tracked Feller Bunchers & Harvesters
John Deere announces the release of Smooth Boom Control for its M-Series Tracked Feller Bunchers and MH-Series Tracked Harvesters.
Developed in global collaboration between the John Deere Wheeled Cut-to-Length and Full-Tree Forestry teams, Smooth Boom Control ensures full and responsive hydraulic function actuation, improving overall machine reactiveness and controllability.
Smooth Boom Control is available as a standard feature on new tracked feller bunchers and harvesters or as an upgrade for existing M- and MH-Series machine owners.
Further enhancing the machine operation in demanding forestry applications, John Deere adds its Smooth Boom Control (SBC) technology to its M-Series Tracked Feller Bunchers and MH-Series Tracked Harvesters. Developed in global collaboration between the John Deere Wheeled Cut-to-Length and Full-Tree Forestry teams, the SBC system instantaneously responds to operator input while smoothing out the acceleration and deceleration of hydraulic functions on the machine, improving overall control.
“Machine response is important to efficient machine operation, especially when working in challenging conditions day in and day out,” said Jim O’Halloran, product marketing manager, John Deere. “With SBC, we’re improving machine functionality, making operation easier on both the operator and machine. As a result, operators can control the machine movements more effectively, especially when reversing motions. SBC delivers a smoother experience for the operator and less wear and tear on the machine over time.”
The SBC software further refines the motion of the boom, swing and travel functions using advanced signal control to keep the machine ready to go. This results in a significant improvement in overall joystick and foot pedal response, reducing the signal delay at the start and end of each operator command. “One operator told us during our evaluation, it made a really good machine even better,” said O’Halloran.
The SBC software is now available as a standard feature on new tracked feller bunchers and harvesters or as an upgrade for existing M- and MH-Series machine owners. To learn more about Smooth Boom Control as well as the John Deere lineup of forestry equipment, visit www.JohnDeere.com or your local John Deere dealer.
Contact:
Amy Jones, imre
Email: amyj@imre.com
Phone: 410-821-8220
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SFI announces new standards focused on solving some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges
Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, ON —The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) has developed new standards to support SFI’s leadership in offering solutions to some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. SFI certification is a powerful tool to ensure healthy forests that mitigate climate impacts, are resilient to fire threats, and support a diversity of communities.
“SFI has the scale to make a difference with more than 375 million acres/152 million hectares certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard, and tens of millions more certified to the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard,” says Kathy Abusow, SFI’s President and CEO. “Because the standards require independent, third-party audits, organizations that use them are responding to the ESG expectations of investors, customers, and communities.”
Requirements for a new SFI Climate Smart Forestry Objective are one of the highlights of the new standards. Forests play a central role in the carbon cycle and with proper management, can be one of the most effective nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. SFI-certified organizations will now be required to ensure forest management activities address climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
“Our hopes to mobilize forests for climate will depend on influencing forest practices across as many acres as possible, helping to infuse them with science-based approaches to achieve resilient carbon sequestration and healthy forests for our future,” said Jad Daley, President and CEO of American Forests. “Forest certification is the dream device to make this connection with landowners across North America, and SFI has done an outstanding job of assuring that this new SFI standard will help catalyze the climate-smart forestry we need.”
SFI is elevating its role in addressing fire by introducing a new SFI Fire Resilience and Awareness Objective. Forest fires have long played a role in the evolution and function of natural ecosystems, but we are now seeing an increase in catastrophic fires that have dire consequences for our forests, wildlife, and communities. SFI-certified organizations are now required to limit susceptibility of forests to undesirable impacts of wildfire and to raise community awareness of fire benefits, risks, and minimization measures.
An important component of the SFI standards is Objective 8, Recognize and Respect Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. The SFI standards promote respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, representative institutions, and traditional knowledge, and are aligned with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Specific measures require that SFI-certified organizations are aware of traditional forest-related knowledge, such as known cultural heritage sites, the use of wood in traditional buildings and crafts, and flora that may be used in cultural practices for food, ceremonies, or medicine.
“The SFI standard requires organizations to recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and traditional knowledge,” says Lenny Joe, President, Scw’exmx Tribal Council. “SFI’s programs and certification requirements are unique in that they focus on relationship building that creates trust. This is important to many Indigenous communities like mine and a reason for SFI’s earned respect and growth.”
SFI’s standards are built on mutual trust and engagement. They help SFI-certified organizations meet societal expectations by ensuring that important issues such as civil rights, equal employment opportunities, gender equality, diversity inclusion, and anti-discrimination and anti‑harassment measures are addressed.
SFI revises and updates the SFI standards to incorporate the latest scientific information, respond to emerging issues, and ensure continual improvement. This open and transparent process began in 2019 and included engagement with the conservation community, Indigenous communities, the forest products sector, brand owners, private forest landowners and public forest managers, government agencies, trade associations, landowner associations, academia, and the public. The SFI Board of Directors approved the SFI 2022 Standards and Rules at their April 2021 meeting.
About the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® Inc.
SFI advances sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. We are an independent, non‑profit organization that leverages four interconnected pillars of work: standards, conservation, community, and education. SFI works with the forest sector, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments. Collaborating with our network, we leverage SFI-certified forests and products as powerful tools to help solve sustainability challenges such as climate action, conservation of biodiversity, education of future generations, and sustainable economic development. Learn more: forests.org.
Media Contact
Daniel Pellegrom
Vice President, Communications
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
202-596-3452 / daniel.pellegrom@forests.org
Standards Contact
Jason Metnick
Senior Vice President, Customer Affairs
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
602-374-6539 / jason.metnick@forests.org
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Forests extending to 745 hectares on market for £14m
Almost 750 hectares of prime commercial forestry in the Scottish Borders has come to the market for offers over £14 million. The sale of the Ramsaygrain East Forests, which extend to 745 hectares or 1,841 acres, are available as a whole or in three lots. The large scale commercial conifer forests are part of the renowned Teviothead Forest Complex.
The mid-rotation forestry comprises 92% Sitka spruce with a mix of age classes thereby offering a regular income.
Additionally, some native broadleaves improve biodiversity and add structural diversity to the landscape.
Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group, which has launched the sale, said the forests were ‘outstanding’.
“[The forests] include second rotation crops planted with improved seed stock, to the market,” said Jon Lambert, partner at the firm. “The results speak for themselves with exceptional growth rates and superb yields. They occupy a prime forestry location, benefitting from an excellent internal forest road network and access to major timber processors via agreed timber transport routes.”
The launch of the Ramsaygrain East Forests comes at a time of continued buoyancy in the commercial forestry sector. The market continues to perform extremely well with demand far outstripping supply and a seemingly insatiable appetite for timber.
Source: Farming UK
Photo: The launch of the forests comes at a time of continued buoyancy in the commercial forestry sector
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Antti Koulumies appointed as Head of UPM Timber
Antti Koulumies has been appointed Senior Vice President, UPM Timber as of June 1st 2021. He will be based in Helsinki reporting to Bernd Eikens, EVP, UPM Biorefining.
Koulumies holds a M.Sc., Industrial Management from Aalto University. He joins UPM from REEL International that acquired Metso Outotec Aluminium business this year. Prior to aluminium business leadership position, Koulumies led the business control, strategy and M&A at Outotec. Before joining Outotec he worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Company.
The position as Head of UPM Timber became vacant after Aki Temmes was appointed Senior Vice President, Business Control & Finance Operations at UPM as of 1 January 2021.
UPM Timber produces redwood and whitewood sawn timber for the joinery, packaging, distribution, and construction industries. Their sawmills are powered entirely by renewable energy. They use certified Nordic raw material and the latest sawmilling techniques to produce high-quality sawn timber that fulfills customer requirements. UPM Timber has four sawmills in Finland with a total annual capacity of 1.5 M cubic metres and its own sales network in Europe and Asia. UPM Timber employs around 400 people and has its headquarter in Tampere.
Antti Koulumies has been appointed Senior Vice President, UPM Timber as of June 1st 2021. He will be based in Helsinki reporting to Bernd Eikens, EVP, UPM Biorefining.
Koulumies holds a M.Sc., Industrial Management from Aalto University. He joins UPM from REEL International that acquired Metso Outotec Aluminium business this year. Prior to aluminium business leadership position, Koulumies led the business control, strategy and M&A at Outotec. Before joining Outotec he worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Company.
The position as Head of UPM Timber became vacant after Aki Temmes was appointed Senior Vice President, Business Control & Finance Operations at UPM as of 1 January 2021.
UPM Timber produces redwood and whitewood sawn timber for the joinery, packaging, distribution, and construction industries. Their sawmills are powered entirely by renewable energy. They use certified Nordic raw material and the latest sawmilling techniques to produce high-quality sawn timber that fulfills customer requirements. UPM Timber has four sawmills in Finland with a total annual capacity of 1.5 M cubic metres and its own sales network in Europe and Asia. UPM Timber employs around 400 people and has its headquarter in Tampere.
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Forestry England tackle tree disease with specialist helicopter felling technique
Forest, within the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, which were affected by the tree disease Phytophthora ramorum. The two-day operation involved an 18-strong Forestry England team and a contract harvesting team working alongside Swiss and Scottish operators, brought in for their expertise in helicopter felling – a forestry technique common in Switzerland but used only once before by the same team in the UK.
A stand of 150 diseased larch trees around Whinlatter Forest’s Wild Play and Go Ape high-wires course needed to be lifted vertically to avoid damaging the play equipment and climbing infrastructure. Helicopter felling was the most cost-effective approach to remove each tree, as conventional felling techniques would have led to extensive damage, costly rebuilding and loss of access for visitors and families wanting to enjoy the area.
The felling operation involved several steps and careful co-ordination between ground and climbing teams, and the helicopter pilot. First, the climbing team assessed the weight of the tree, dividing it into sections weighing no more than two tonnes – the maximum weight that the helicopter could lift – before securing a rope to each section. The specialist KMax heavy lift helicopter hovered overhead, lowering a steel cable to the ground which was attached by rope to a section at a time of each tree and pulled taught as the helicopter rose vertically. A cutter, communicating by radio with the pilot, then cut the tree by chainsaw and the helicopter flew the tree stems away over the forest to an area a kilometre away where another team processed the wood with a harvester. Because the helicopter was faster between lifts than a climber, three climbing teams served the helicopter in turn in a non-stop operation which successfully removed the larch trees and left the play and high-wires infrastructure undamaged and ready for reopening.
Kevin May, Forestry England Forest Management Director for North District, says;
This was a complex forestry operation which needed meticulous planning and co-ordination between ground, climbing and flying teams. It was vital we removed these diseased larch trees to stop the spread of P. ramorum in the forest but we were determined to also protect the facilities which so many visitors enjoy each year. The whole operation had to be COVID secure with special permission needed from the UK and Swiss governments to bring in the specialist team to work alongside us. Fair weather and good visibility in Whinlatter Forest Park– England’s only ‘mountain’ forest – meant the whole job was done seamlessly, felling and extracting approximately 300 tonnes in two days with public safety maintained at all times.
We now have the opportunity to look ahead and ensure Whinlatter Forest is as resilient as possible in future decades supporting our people, nature and economy outcomes. The cleared site will provide a valuable open habitat for many wildlife species in the short term, and we have a detailed replanting plan to replace the felled larches with a mix of species resilient to changing climate conditions and future pests and diseases. The felling operation is the beginning of a new and exciting phase for this wonderful landscape, and we look forward to welcoming visitors back.
You can watch the helicopter felling operation in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VT3XhXTWFY
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