Development of new sod peat production technology in Finland

The main focus of the development of peat production technology in Finland is on technologies, which are less dependent on weather conditions, and technologies, which can decrease environmental impacts on water and air. The new Multi-Layer drying method for sod peat, being developed by SampoTech Oy and VTT in 2009-2011, is the method by which the dependence of weather conditions in peat production can be decreased. The target has also been to increase productivity and to minimize the costs of sod peat production. The production costs for the Multi-Layer method seem to be lowered to the level of milled peat production costs. In this new Multi-Layer method the main idea is to dry several sod peat production cycles partly at the same time on the same drainage bed without turning and windrowing the produced sod peat as has been done in the current method. The first sod layer is extracted and spread on the shaped and compressed drainage bed. When the first sod layer is dry enough, it will be covered with a new sod layer. New sod peat layers are always produced on the earlier layers. In the new method the effect of rain on drying process will be diminished because of the formation of drainage bed and the layered drying. In the end of the season or between harvesting cycles, depending on the weather conditions, sod peat loading can be carried out in a normal way. There are several advantages in the new method: less working phases and harvesting losses, lower production costs and significant increasing of production.