Economic Valorization of Hedgerows

Hedge / Economic Valorization of Hedgerows - Ver de Terre Production - Diversification, Biodiversity

Arboriculture Agroforestry Valorization Hedges Wood harvesting Economic value

In sustainable agricultural systems, hedges are no longer seen solely as landscape or ecological elements, but also as genuine economic levers. Their rational management can generate useful resources — wood, fodder, fruits — while strengthening farm resilience against climatic and economic uncertainties. Valorizing hedges thus means reconciling bocage maintenance, energy autonomy, diversification of income, and contribution to ecosystem services.

Why does hedge management represent an economic valorization opportunity?

In a context of climate change, rising fossil fuel prices, and modernization of agricultural equipment, wood appears as a very attractive energy resource: renewable, low-cost compared to other energies, and relatively stable over time.

Hedges play a fundamental role in bocage landscapes and require regular and controlled management to maintain their functionality and longevity. Proper maintenance allows limiting or increasing their development according to their function, to maximize efficiency. Thus, valorization of hedges constitutes a valuable opportunity for farmers concerned with profitability, landscape preservation, and long-term sustainability. These linear elements can serve both for self-consumption and for diversification of agricultural production and income sources. The technical maintenance cost is estimated between €10 and €30 / 100 linear meters per year.

How to valorize hedges?

Many valorization pathways exist for hedges, such as timber production from valuable species, energy production (firewood, wood chips, pellets), use of chips as animal bedding or as organic mulch. Some hedge biomass can also serve as supplementary fodder for livestock or support fruit production.

Beyond their direct economic value, hedges provide many indirect services: they support biodiversity, protect from wind, improve water management, and act as carbon sinks. These ecosystem services help improve agricultural yields by creating more favorable conditions for crops and livestock. In grazed systems, they also provide shade and shelter from bad weather, improving animal welfare and productivity.

Technical benchmarks

Hedge maintenance and management practices determine both productivity and function according to targeted objectives.
Hedge wood produced on the farm can be sold on local biomass markets (municipal or industrial heating) or used for self-consumption.
Hedges can provide various value-added products: timber, firewood, chips for energy or bedding, and even fodder or fruits, contributing to economic diversification and ecological resilience.

Valorized products from hedges

Timber

• Timber production:

◦ Tall trees offer economic opportunities.

◦ Formative pruning is often necessary to obtain a straight trunk.

◦ Harvesting occurs over long periods, from 50 to 120 years.

◦ The price per cubic meter depends on species, age, rarity, and landscape or social interest.

◦ Detailed cost simulations and gross margins for 100 meters of a tall hedge (before transport costs deduction):

▪ Average felling costs: about €188 with a grapple saw or €450 with a feller buncher.

▪ Potential gross margins:

• Oak: €7,046 (with grapple saw) or €6,784 (with feller buncher).

• Ash: €4,504 (with grapple saw) or €4,242 (with feller buncher).

• Currently: €2,549 (with grapple saw) or €2,287 (with feller buncher).

Energy wood

Hedges represent an important energy resource. Studies show that one kilometer of well-maintained hedge can provide between 30 and 150 tons of green wood.

Firewood: the most basic form of valorization, but with low calorific value due to persistent moisture. A coppiced hedge can produce between 100 and 200 stacked cubic meters every 15 to 20 years. However, it does not allow valorizing all wood (upper branches, residues).

▪ The price of non-delivered firewood ranges from €30/stère for softwood to €70/stère for hardwood, and €50/stère for green wood.

▪ Detailed cost simulations and gross margins for 100 meters of a three-layer hedge:

• Felling costs: €188 (grapple saw) or €450 (feller buncher).

• Splitting costs: from €334 (100cm splitter for hardwood) to €1,800 (logging for hardwood).

• Gross margins:

◦ With grapple saw and 40 cm splitter: +€87 (softwood), +€1,031 (hardwood), +€323 (green wood).

◦ With grapple saw and 100 cm splitter: +€422 (softwood), +€1,366 (hardwood), +€658 (green wood).

• Felling operations with feller buncher combined with logging can lead to negative margins for firewood (e.g., -€406 for softwood, -€362 for hardwood).

Wood chips: made from wood fragments a few centimeters long, produced from residues (branches, pruning wood). All wood is used, trunk and branches, without waste. Chips can be used as fuel, mulch, bedding, or ground cover.

▪ Detailed cost simulations and gross margins for 100 meters of a three-layer hedge:

• Felling costs: €188 (grapple saw) or €450 (feller buncher).

• Chipping costs: from €130 (branch chipper) to €538 (large section chipper + hardwood splitting).

• Gross margins:

◦ €1,231 (with grapple saw and branch chipper).

◦ €963 (for soft wood) or €823 (for hard wood) with grapple saw and large section chipper.

◦ €969 (with feller buncher and branch chipper).

◦ €701 (for soft wood) or €561 (for hard wood) with feller buncher and large section chipper.

• It is important to deduct potential transport and stump removal costs from the final margin.

Chips for animal bedding

An interesting alternative to straw, as replacement or complement. Four cubic meters of dry chips replace about one ton of straw. Advantages: high absorption capacity, non-slip, improved sanitary conditions.

Ramial chipped wood (RCW)

Used as plant mulch, it comes from young branches (1 to 3 years max), chipped. Deciduous species are preferred, with a maximum of 20% conifers or species rich in tannins (acacia, oak, beech). RCW increases soil organic matter and preserves moisture.

Fodder and fruits for local production

In addition to pruning techniques, hedges located at pasture edges can provide supplementary fodder. Fruit hedges represent another interesting resource. The harvest can be used for self-consumption or for diversification activities through sale or processing. It is not a standalone enterprise but a complementary activity at the local scale.

Supply structures

To assist farmers in finding buyers, in some regions, supply structures manage wood storage and sales. This is the case of the Cuma Haie’nergie and territory covering the Eure and Seine-Maritime.

Ecosystem services and the role of the Label Haie

The Label Haie is a certification scheme for hedge management practices and wood distribution chains from bocage. Its goal is to support the development of sustainable sectors and halt bocage erosion in France. Although sometimes restrictive in terms of more meticulous pruning methods (favoring sawing over shredding, for example), this label is seen as a way to better economically valorize wood and chips from hedge maintenance in the future. For example, Jean-Louis Nogues anticipates an increase in the sale price of his chips from €20/m³ to €25/m³ thanks to this label. The Label Haie is also an indicator of sustainable bocage management in some Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs, such as that of Jérôme Collin.

Financial aids and subsidies

Aids and subsidies are available to facilitate hedge planting and maintenance, coming from various sources (European, national, regional, departmental, intercommunal/municipal, or private). They aim to offset costs and encourage agroecological practices.

• Concrete examples of subsidies and beneficiaries:

◦ Departments:

▪ The Manche department offers flat-rate aids per linear meter, ranging from €3.10/m for flat hedge creation (50% subsidy) to €16/m for renovation or refilling of old hedges on embankments (90% subsidy).

▪ The Orne department offers 40% of the pre-tax amount (excl. VAT), capped at €9 excl. VAT/m, for bocage hedge creation (excluding anti-erosion embankments).

▪ Calvados offers €2.3/m for hedge planting.

◦ Specific programs: The "Children and Trees" program can finance technical support, plant and protection purchases, and potentially soil preparation and mulching works for projects over 100 linear meters.

◦ Funds and foundations:

▪ Romary Courtois received aid of €1,500 in 2019 from Mission Haie Auvergne via a partnership with the Yves Rocher Foundation.

▪ For its new 2024 project, the AFTER Fund of the French Agroforestry Association (AFA) finances planting at €12.25 excl. VAT per tree.

◦ Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES): These schemes reward farmers' efforts for environmental practices.

▪ Jérôme Collin, beef cattle farmer, receives between €7,500 and €7,800 per year for maintaining agroecological infrastructures (including hedges) and other indicators, covering his expenses.

▪ Jean-Louis Nogues, mixed crop-livestock farmer, has received significant sums (over €22,000 some years) via the Rance Fresnaye PES for sustainable hedge management, establishment of grass strips, and herbicide reduction, enabling him to cover expenses and equip himself, such as purchasing a €600 electric pruner.

▪ Solenat, an association created by farmers, acts as an intermediary between operators and funders (companies, local authorities) to develop PES based on carbon storage in hedges, according to a method validated by the Low Carbon Label. Farmers sign a 5-year contract, technically supported by the chamber of agriculture (diagnosis, sustainable management plan, monitoring). Remuneration is calculated based on sequestered carbon. Solenat also offers other environmental schemes, such as melliferous cover crops, with average aids ranging from €1,000 to €3,000 per farm.

It is important to note that these aids rarely cover all costs and may exclude certain expense items, but they encourage planters to care for their plantations and maintain them long-term. It is recommended to contact the town hall or local specialized structures to learn about specific rules and applicable aids for a planting project.