Information for Woodland Owners

Sponsor links:

Commercial Potential
(The figures in this document are open to comment from all sources.)

Hazel coppice has great economic potential. The identified need is for quality commercial hazel coppice. One method to identify potential financial return is to base the value on one of the main products, hurdles. Jonathan Howe has classified hazel coppice into four grades. Grading coppice was based on three main factors:

- Stool Density, usually between 400-800 stools per acre.
- Number of rods per stool which can be as many as 60+.
- Quality of the rods - minimum of 7 ft straight lengths up to 10 - 15 ft.

Grade 1	12,000 plus rods per acre with a yield of over 75% usable over waste should produce 1800 ft of hurdle
Grade 2	8,000 plus rods per acre with a yield of over 60% usable over waste should produce 1200 ft of hurdle
Grade 3	4,000 plus rods per acre with a yield of over 50% usable over waste should produce 600 ft of hurdle
Grade 4	Less than 4,000 plus rods per acre with a yield of less than 40% usable rods

	Value per acre	Feet of hurdle		Value / foot
Grade 1	£9000	1800		£5
Grade 2	£6000	1200		£5
Grade 3	£3000		600	£5

Grade 1 hazel coppice has the ability to provide £9,000 worth per acre, of hurdle alone. Other products can be made from the ‘waste’ which adds further value. Another method of accessing financial potential is to value the rods cut from the stool before additional value is added by turning them into other products. The average value determined for a single stool is £12 with the maximum being £18. There is a need for more investigation of these values.

				Value of Stool (£)
		6	8	10	12	14	16	18
	400	2400	3200	4000	4800	5600	6400	7200
	450	2700	3600	4500	5400	6300	7200	8100
Stool	500	3000	4000	5000	6000	7000	8000	9000
Density	550	3300	4400	5500	6600	7700	8800	9900
per Acre	600	3600	4800	6000	7200	8400	9600	10800
	650	3900	5200	6500	7800	9100	10400	11700
	700	4200	5600	7000	8400	9800	11200	12600
	750	4500	6000	7500	9000	10500	12000	13500
	800	4800	6400	8000	9600	11200	12800	14400

Figure 1
The higher the stool density the more likely the rods are to be longer and straighter and therefore of higher value. Harvesting of coppice with a high stool density is also more cost effective as less waste needs to be sorted and removed.

Next Page