Fertilization of forest land fell by 77% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Norwegian Forestry Agency’s action survey. Fertilization has not been this low since nitrogen fertilization was introduced on a large scale in the 1960s. The decline was caused by the high prices of fertilizer as a result of the war in Ukraine. Source: Timberbiz
In 2022, 9,900 hectares of productive forest land in Sweden were fertilized.
This is a decrease of 77/5 compared with the year before, when 42,700 hectares were fertilized.
Not since 1963, when nitrogen fertilization of forest land had just left the experimental stage, has fertilization been so low.
The decline between 2021 and 2022 has been caused by the sharp increase in fertilizer prices in 2022, a consequence of the war in Ukraine.
High prices for artificial fertilizers can affect the inclination of forest owners to fertilize and at the same time lead to other production-increasing measures being deemed more cost-effective and prioritized in planning.
Reduced fertilization in a single year is not expected to have a measurable effect on forest growth and potential felling.
In the longer term, fertilization at 2022’s low level could mean reduced timber production, says Göran Hallsby, forest management specialist at the Norwegian Forestry Agency.
The cumulative effect of continuing to refrain from fertilization on 30,000 hectares annually for 10 years could amount to 3-6 million cubic meters of lower forest growth.
Over the past 20 years, the fertilized area has varied, with a low of 13,800 hectares in 2002 and a high of80,400 hectares in 2010.
For the third time, the Swedish Forestry Agency has also investigated the extent of clear-cut forestry.
It is not individual clearing-free measures that are investigated, but the extent to which the landowners intend to use the land so that the land is always covered with trees without any large clear-cut areas occurring.
In 2022, clear-cut forestry covered 720,000 hectares in Sweden, about 3% of the productive forestland, which is on par with 2021.
The high felling rate of recent years, combined with little use of natural rejuvenation as a rejuvenation method, continues to have an impact on the regrowth measures, which increase or remain at high levels.
In 2022, 197,500 hectares were prepared, and 214,400 hectares were planted.
This can be compared with the average for the previous 10 years, where an average of 170,400 hectares were prepared and 175,100 hectares were planted per year.
The Norwegian Forestry Agency has investigated forestry since 1955. Forestry is a collective term for both planting and sowing.
In 2022, 223,600 hectares were cultivated, which is on a par with both 2021 and 2020. In the last three years, forest cultivation has been higher than ever before in the Norwegian Forestry Agency’s annual measurement.
