Southern Loggin’ Times magazine Managing Editor David Abbott visits with Sherwood Padgette of R&K Timber, Inc., located in Wallace, North Carolina. After 51 years in the woods, industry vet Sherwood Padgette, 67, has been around the block a few times, and is still looking for opportunities to open up potential new markets. Last summer he met with representatives from Biochemtex, a global biofuels supplier. North Carolina Assn. of Professional Loggers Executive Director Doug Duncan arranged for Padgette and other loggers in the area to demonstrate their capabilities and send chip samples for ethanol testing to the company’s plant in Italy. Biochemtex plans to put $200 million into a new ethanol plant, under the name Carolina Cellulosic Biofuels, to be located in Sampson County, Padgette’s home territory. The plant will primarily rely on energy crops, but the purpose of the meetings was to test the viability of woody biomass as a supplement feedstock during lean months, when grass isn’t growing.

Featured Story: “Still Going Strong”

Written By: David Abbott
Company: R&K Timber, Inc.
Location: Wallace, North Carolina
SLT Issue: February 2014

Check out other featured articles in the February 2014 issue of Southern Loggin’ Times magazine.
Southern Loggin’ Times February issue features Dwayne Taylor, Barry McGaughey and David Morris of Florida’s Panhandle Forestry/Chipola Timber. Young logger Jeremy Jones started from scratch and weathered the storms. With no plans to retire, veteran logger Padgette eyes new biomass markets.