FUTA Expo 2025, spotlight on forestry machinery

From July 4th to 6th, modern forestry machinery will be on display in Barberino di Mugello. Forestry equipment and vehicles will be on display over three days of demonstrations and practical tests. The potential of the forestry sector

From July 4th to 6th, the place to be is in Barberino del Mugello (Florence), at the "La Dogana" forest farm, for the first ever FUTA Expo event. As the Italian acronym FUTA (for Forests, Utilizations, Territory, Environment) itself suggests, the event is an initiative aimed at promoting machinery for the management and maintenance of forestry assets, as well as for the processing of biomass. Organized by ITABIA (Italian Biomass Association) and the CNR - with Raffaele Spinelli's team from the Institute for Bioeconomy, in collaboration with FederUnacoma, the three-day event in Barberino del Mugello includes a busy schedule of field tests featuring the most innovative technologies for sustainable forest management. "The title 'A Worksite in Action: Moving Biomass to Promote Development' faithfully summarizes the aims and spirit of an event that has as its objective to emphasize the great growth potential of the Italian forestry sector", explain the ITABIA organizers. "Currently, yearly production of biomass from forestry operations – continues the Italian Biomass Association – stands at 4-5 million tons per year which, however, are not able to satisfy national demand, which is estimated at around 20 million tons". The gap between supply and demand of biomass signals a production “lag” due to both cultural and structural factors, which can be overcome primarily through adequate investments in specific technologies. According to ITABIA, if annual biomass growth increased to 64-65% (as is happening in other Southern European countries), biomass production could be doubled, easily exceeding 10 million tons per year. In this perspective modern forestry mechanization plays a leading role in the development of bio-energy chains, since it makes it possible to process and move biomass at low costs and with high quality standards. However, the current Italian vehicle fleet is completely insufficient to satisfy the technological needs of the forestry sector. According to estimates (CNR IBE 2024), on average for every 2,500 tons of forest biomass collected, the use of at least one tractor and one crane is required. An increase of 5 million tons in annual biomass production would thus require, considering only these two types of vehicles, the use (and therefore the production) of at least 4,000 new vehicles. Another issue affecting the development of the sector is that relating to know-how and the widespread use of good practices, as demonstrated by the fact that until now in Italy there has been no event at the national level focused solely on the forestry sector. "All the initiatives that have taken place up to now have been limited to the local level and have been very sporadic in nature. Hence – adds ITABIA – the need to plan a new event that responds to the criteria of stability, centrality, and authoritativeness". Thus, FUTA Expo, from the very first start, has been conceived as a regular event – that is, as an initiative that always takes place in the same place, at the same time of year and for the same duration – with a central location in Italy and authoritative in nature, being put on by competent and high-profile partners. To date, approximately 50 exhibition spaces have been assigned, in line with the target set by the organizers (50 to 60 spaces), for a total of approximately 80 manufacturers who have so far formally registered to participate (please visit the page https://www.itabia.it/futaexpo/espositori.html to scroll through the list of the brands present). Display areas are assigned to exhibitors based on the different types of machinery to be presented and set up during the event, along a path designed to optimize the visit and the experience in the field of spectators.