Pacific Regeneration Technology Red Rock Nursery

Pacific Regeneration Technology (PRT) is North America’s largest producer of container-grown forest seedlings. In order to provide energy to their greenhouses, PRT Red Rock Nursery grows short rotation coppice willow as a bioenergy feedstock on site.

As the sandy soils of the nursery have been depleted of nutrients by pervious operations, the addition of nutrients and organic matter provided by the biosolids are extremely beneficial and cost effective, as the addition of biosolids reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.  Due to the high organic matter content of the biosolids, nutrients are slowly released over approximately 5 years, which matches perfectly with the 3 to 5 year harvest cycle of the short rotation willow crop. Biosolids applications to the site improve soil water holding capacity and increase nutrient and organic matter concentrations in the soil.

To date, SYLVIS has applied biosolids to approximately half of PRT's cultivated area. SYLVIS and PRT have joined their efforts to fertilize panels needing improvement before planting in order to facilitate optimal growth of the coppice willow crop.

Due to the increased biomass production facilitated by the addition of biosolids to the soils at the Red Rock Nursery, PRT has expressed an interest in an ongoing yearly biosolids application program which will be scheduled according to the harvest schedule of the short rotation coppice willow trees.