Thank you all for the great information.
Hans, thank you for the update concerning Raphael and the Brazilian paper companies. I took a look at your website and its very interesting what you're doing with seedlings and workshops. Maybe someday I can find a reason to get back down to Brazil!
I keep hearing about the silica issues, but I have to believe that good engineering and appropriate materials can fix that.
One big challenge I see as well is the tires or tracks of the harvesting machine -- once the bamboo is cut, especially if swath harvesting, the machine would have to regularly drive over the cut stumps, and I just don't know what can be done to protect from regular replacement of tires or tracks (both of which are very expensive). With row crops, you've got the rows. And with grain crops, there's no danger to the wheels...Thoughts on this are welcome!
Best,
Read
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