IT'S A passion for forestry that fuels the Hudson family's Aberdeenshire woodchip business - and they are keen users of their own products too.

With a father who received an OBE for services to forestry in 2003, it's no wonder Ben Hudson went straight into the industry when he left school.

His father Barrie took over Dalfling Farm in 1978 and initially ran it as a mixed unit, however it wasn't long before he went back to forestry while also running the farm. After studying Forest Management at university, Ben worked in woodfuel research. He had always been interested in woodfuel, but this sparked his imagination and he started his own business, Treelogic, in 2000.

Of course, back then there wasn't nearly as much interest in woodfuel as there is now, so the business was primarily arboriculture, forest management and firewood log sales.

It was with the introduction of the Scottish Biomass Support Scheme that Ben, his wife Annie and his parents installed a biomass boiler to heat their homes, and a number of farm buildings which had been converted into flats and business units.

Ben explained: "In 2007, under the SBSS, we installed our first biomass boiler on the farm, a 55kw Froeling boiler, installed by Highland Wood Energy, and we've had a great relationship with them ever since. All of our tenants were on electric storage heaters so by installing the biomass boiler they halved their business fuel costs and it gave them greener credentials.

"From our point of view, it was an excellent marketing tool for us. A lot of people think producing woodfuel is easy which it isn't, and by putting our own system it showed that we knew the importance of producing a consistent quality product."

The family installed a second biomass boiler in 2012, again with HW Energy to provide heat for the wood chip drying process.

Tree Logic is now primarily about supplying woodfuel, which accounts for 80% of the business. Its customers range from single houses to hotels, swimming pools and commercial users.

This big increase in demand, Ben believes, is down to the recent introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive. He explained: "We initially produced woodfuel on a small scale, for ourselves and three other clients. The market continued to grow and there was a lot of talk about the RHI being introduced because of the price of installation of biomass boilers. It had been rumbling on for some time but when we knew it was likely to become reality, we anticipated the demand it would cause.

"With the RHI the market is increasing steadily, we have a lot of interest and these days that interest actually comes to fruition. People do a lot of research and approximately 90% of the enquiries we now receive results in project being completed "

Producing so much woodchip is no mean feat, however. In 2011 they extended the original purpose-built shed which has high windows so the chipper can spray chip in and it has a special drying floor which can dry 50 cubic metres of chip a night.

Tree Logic produces quality woodchip at a specified moisture content, something Ben is very proud of. He said: "We are accredited for the supply of woodchip by Woodsure and receive audits to ensure our product reaches the specification we advertise. We have to produce to a consistent moisture content and show traceability in our wood sourcing. All our wood comes from FSC-managed forests."

Alongside his father Barrie, who is also a director of Treelogic, Ben brings a lot of knowledge to the business and this is invaluable at a time when there is potential for less experienced woodfuel operators looking to make some quick money from the renewables boom.

Ben said: "With any new industry there are always people who jump on the bandwagon. We've been doing forestry for a long time, there's a lot of cumulative knowledge at Treelogic, and we have a lot of contacts in the industry.

"We have both done work in forestry trials and wood fuel research so this hasn't happened overnight, and we've put a lot of money into this. So many factors go into the product being right and quality is very important as a boiler just won't work efficiently without good chip.

"I've got to constantly manage the business and devote a lot of time to it. When our heating season kicks off in October it is seven days a week, it's not as easy as people may think, it's hard work and we're very driven by weather conditions - similar to farming."

Treelogic has a lot of praise for HW Energy, which installed their two biomass boilers - a 55kw Froeling and an ETA 195kw boiler. If a customer is in the process of installing a boiler and hopes to source chip from Treelogic, Ben likes to give some helpful advice during the planning process, so customers are able to cope with deliveries of woodchip, which takes up more space than a delivery of oil.

He said: "If clients are having systems installed by HW Energy, we like to be involved in the planning stage, in terms of fuel delivery. We want it to be as efficient as possible for delivery which in turn is cost effective for the customer. A little bit of extra capital expenditure at the beginning on the fuel store and delivery system will result in savings over the 20-year span of a biomass boiler. People need to get into a different mindset, they are used to getting oil delivered and delivery of woodchip is completely new to them."

At a time when farms can struggle, Ben is pleased he and his father's diversification has meant Dalfling is still working well: "What we've done is allow a 150acre mixed farm to still retain two employees in this day and age. The key to what we've done is keeping this as a unit and utilising the buildings and land, we've also planted marginal forest. We rent out grazing land in summer and sell Christmas trees in winter. We planted 5 acres dedicated to Christmas trees," he added.