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Harvesting and selling pine needles could provide extra income for the
small rural landowner with pine tree plantings. The needles--called
"pine straw"--are a sought-after commodity among landscapers who use them
for mulch. Also, building contractors spread them at building sites to
reduce soil disturbance by equipment. In the Mid-South, pine straw yields
can reach 150 bales per acre at 30 to 40 pounds per bale, selling for as
much as $8 per bale, beginning when the trees are about eight years old.
The pine straw must be raked into piles, taking care to avoid sticks and
other trash that can lower the value of the product. But it then can be
baled with the same machinery used to bale hay. Straw can be harvested
anytime during the trees' shedding season from August to January, but
maximum yields typically come in October and November. In field tests in
Arkansas from 1990-1995, pine straw yields from 16-year-old loblolly pines
averaged 480 pounds per acre in August, slightly more in September and
October, and a maximum of 1,603 pounds per acre in November. Another
income option for pine-planting owners: leasing the land for pine straw
harvesting.
South Central Family Farm Research Center, Booneville, AR
Catalino A. Blanche, (501) 675-3834
A nutritionally essential fatty acid has been newly-identified in
certain strains of fungi--opening the door to a new, fermentation,
technology-based growth industry for the fatty acid. That
acid--arachidonic acid--is found only in trace amounts in animal fats.
But now the fungi could become a rich new source for the fatty acid
products ranging from pharmaceuticals to agricultural chemicals that
enhance plants' natural resistance to disease. Cooperating ARS and
Russian scientists discovered arachidonic acid makes up more than 40
percent of lipids in at least three strains of Mortierella fungi. These
acid-rich fungi were among 87 strains examined from three microorganism
collections, including the ARS Culture Collection in Peoria, IL.
Fermentation Research, Peoria, IL
Rodney J. Bothast, (309) 681-6566
Last updated: October 28. 1996
Return to: Quarterly Report
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Last Modified: 02/11/2002
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