Harvest
On an annual basis Virginia sida crops several times more per hectare than energy forests. During harvest the moisture content of energy willow is 50-60%, that of poplar is more than 60%, while Virginia sida only contains 16-25% of moisture. It is not necessary to use any special machine or equipment for harvesting. The plant can be cut and baled with a general reaper, the dried Virginia sida can be harvested with a chaff-cutter as chips. During harvest at the end of winter/beginning of spring, Virginia sida performs really well with its own moisture content of 16% and its calorific value of 18,75 MJ/kg.
