This is the sort of competition mallees will face in the low...

This is the sort of competition mallees will face in the low rainfall zones of Australia's grainbelt (See article below) ... Australian sandalwood overtook mallees in terms of number of trees planted this year and that trend will continue into 2008. The major constraint to CO2's targeted growth will be nursery capacity. WA's nurseries are already full for 2008 in WA and have been for a couple of weeks now. Expect tree seedling prices to skyrocket beyond 2008.

There are three main tree groups nurseries grow for - 1. Sandalwood host trees (ie Acacias) 2. Mallees 3. Melaleucas for brushwood fencing 4. Saltbush for saltland grazing.

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Field day focus on sandalwood
15 November 2007 - 10:39AM View all news | Send to a friend | Print

PLANTATIONS in the Wheatbelt were a focus of the Sandalwood Field Day hosted by the Mt Marshall Shire on Wednesday, October 17.

This event attracted more than 60 people and shire natural resource management officer Paul Hodges said it sparked a lot of interest in sandalwood production.

Field day attendees assembled at the Bencubbin Community Recreation Complex to listen to some interesting and informative speakers talk about all aspects of the sandalwood industry.

Local icon Norm Bates spoke about the history of sandalwood in the shire.

His presentation included photographs of his father’s sandalwood drays and teams dating back to the 1920s.

Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management research fellow Geoff Woodall, who was also a founding member of the Australian Sandalwood Network, provided an excellent presentation on establishing sandalwood.

He also spoke at Bob Huxley’s sandalwood plantation during a site visit later in the day.

Renew Environmental Services managing director Peter Jones spoke about the environmental and commercial benefits of growing sandalwood.

His presentation provided a valuable insight in to this area of Sandalwood production.

Liz Kington of the Avon Catchment Council spoke about the ACC’s investment in strategic tree cropping and industry development.

She stressed this was only part of the excellent work ACC members were doing.

Farm Forestry education co-ordinator Judi Pitcher discussed the mentoring system that the Australian Sandalwood Network is developing for sandalwood growers.

After lunch, provided by the Bencubbin Tidy Towns Committee, attendees travelled out to Mr Huxley’s Gabbin property to inspect his sandalwood plantations.

He showed and discussed three of his plantations that are at various stages of development.

The earliest of his plantation was sown in 2000.

The research and demonstration sites of 2005 and 2007, were established in conjunction with Greening

Australia, Southcoast NRM, National Landcare Program and developed with the aid of Dr Woodall and Tim Emmott, who worked for Greening Australia.

http://merredin.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/field-day-focus-on-sandalwood/1087028.html