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James C. Barnett |
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10800 Alpharetta Hwy. |
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Sawtimber Prices Up Timber Mart South Market Newsletter, in its 1st Quarter, 2002 issue reports "South-wide average pine sawtimber stumpage prices increased 1% over last quarter, up over 6% from the same period last year." "... Chip-n-Saw [small sawtimber] south-wide average stumpage prices were down 1% for the quarter but still up over 4% from the 1st Quarter 2001".
The strong Southeastern timber market is credited to three factors --
But pine pulpwood markets are, in a word, lousy. Southern pulpwood was at or near 25 year lows in 2001. Widespread outbreaks of Southern Pine Beetle, bringing thousands of acres of "sell at any price" dead timber to market, coupled with an increased volume of CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) Pine Plantation thinning (stands planted in the mid 1980's), has glutted the market for small-diameter wood. Pulp and Paper Mill overcapacity, created during the last 'boom cycle', has resulted in cutthroat end-product competition. Prices paid for pulpwood stumpage (standing trees) have tumbled 7% from 1st Quarter 2001. Hardwood markets are stable. Oak and Yellow Poplar are in demand throughout the Piedmont. Hardwood sawtimber stumpage prices were up 5% over the 1st Quarter of 2001, while Hardwood pulpwood prices are up 10% over the one-year period. Southeastern Average Stumpage Prices (source Timber Mart South):
Selective Thinning Benefits Allatoona Lake Property Fall Line Consultants is in the ninth year of a sustained-yield program to thin young pine plantations on the 5200 acre Allatoona Lake property of Willoughby & Sewell Development, Ltd. Three thousand five hundred (3500) acres will have been thinned by late 2002.
Contact Fall Line Consultants, LLC (Mark Barnett 404-271-2573 / Jay Barnett 404-310-1427) for information, or E-Mail Fall Line Consultants For legal questions (real estate) and downloadable documents, visit Wood & Meredith law firm
Jean-Baptiste and Hugues arrived at Hartsfield International airport (Atlanta) in June, 1998, and soon realized their sweaters would not be needed for the duration of their stay in Georgia! These two intelligent, hard-working young men adapted to the heat and humidity (and culture shock) of the southeast, and began to systematically sample each thinned stand taking the following measurements on 1/10th acre plots:
Their thesis concluded that the "leave" (crop) trees of the earliest-thinned stands do indeed have greater average height, diameter (and age) than the later-thinned stands. The 'most recent two-year' growth measurements, expressed as an annual rate, were significantly higher than the 'last ten-year' annualized growth rate. The study demonstrates numerically what can be seen clearly by visual inspection of tree growth rings -- these trees, from both a silvicultural and economic perspective, needed to be thinned because growth (evidenced by width of the rings) was slowing in the years prior to thinning. Growth of the "leave" trees increased in the years immediately following thinning. Across the studied years of thinning, from 1991-1998, the "current" two-year growth rate showed a 10.9 percent increase over the ten-year annualized growth rate. Looking at just those stands thinned before 1997 (because the stands thinned in 1997-98 had not had sufficient time for the "growth response" to manifest in the rings), the "current" two-year annualized growth rate showed a 29.5 percent increase over the ten-year annualized growth rate!
Timber Transaction Important Decision The following column by John W. Mixon, Director, Georgia Forestry Commission, is reprinted from the "Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin". The sale of timber is often a once-in-a-lifetime transaction and, as a private non-industrial landowner, you deserve the best possible price for the trees you have managed and protected for 25 or perhaps even 45 long years. If you are ready to sell, I highly recommend that you obtain the services of a professional consulting forester who is registered to practice in Georgia. A list of these professionals is available at all Georgia Forestry Commission offices throughout the state. After retaining a consultant, you should discuss what you wish to accomplish on your property; there are usually several options and the forester can help you make a sound decision. You will want to review fees, learn how the sale is to be handled and discuss the type of inspection that will be made during the harvest to insure protection of your land. A good sound contract, of course, protects both the seller and the buyer. You may want to talk to other landowners that have engaged the consultant you have in mind before you actually enter into an agreement to use his services. Consulting foresters keep abreast of the current prices of the various products that can be processed from your timber such as pulpwood, chip-n-saw, sawtimber, plywood logs, poles and pilings. By merchandising timber for the highest-price product, it will naturally sell for the best possible price. The consulting forester can handle all aspects of the timber sale, including regeneration, if you desire. Most landowners find that the consultant fees are more than offset by the higher selling price he or she often secures for the timber . . . Visit the Georgia Forestry Commission web site ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE REPORTS (August 14, 1997) TIMBERLAND is both a factory and a warehouse. Even when timber and pulp prices sag, trees keep growing. Timberland investments between 1960 and 1995 have had average annual returns of 13.65 percent, compared with 10.74 percent annually for common stocks and 7.58 percent annually for corporate bonds during the same period.
INTENSIVE PINE MANAGEMENT EXPLORED Georgia growers could double or even triple yields from pine plantations if they would adopt intensive management practices like those already being used in Brazil, Chile and South Africa, according to the findings of a new study by Drs. Bruce Borders and Bob Bailey, researchers at the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources. "Our research shows that current growth rates of loblolly pines in the Southeast aren't even close to their potential" said Borders. "While the hot, humid climate -- and the absence of native insect and disease pests -- may boost growth rates of southern yellow pines south of the equator, the accelerated growth is largely the result of intensive practices that include extensive site preparation, weed control, cultivation and fertilization." The study, Loblolly Pine: Pushing the Limits of Growth, which was funded by Georgia Power Company and the Georgia Forestry Commission, includes nine years of data from several sites across the state. Surprisingly, the study showed the largest gains in growth come not from fertilization, but from controlling hardwood seedlings and other competing vegetation alone", said Borders. "We know we can easily double production simply by controlling vegetation alone." Pines in the study that received yearly fertilization and weed control grew at rates two to three times faster than trees in standard loblolly plantations in the Southeast. And while Borders said it is difficult to predict the quality of wood that will come from these 'fast-tracked' trees, he added that they can produce three or four times more fiber on the same land base. "It is not unreasonable to believe that current fiber rotation lengths can be reduced from 20 to 25 years to just 12 or 15 years, while doubling or even tripling fiber production on a given acre of ground." Borders warns that intensive management is not appropriate for all sites or all situations. Like row cropping, intensive pine production should not be practiced on steep slopes or in environmentally sensitive situations.
TIMBER APPRAISAL IN NEW MEXICO
With a shorter growing season (than the Southeastern U.S.) and much less rainfall, mature trees attain a height and diameter similar to southern yellow pine, but take many more years to reach this state. Trees killed (by old age, insects, disease) do not rot -- they remain on the forest floor in the arid climate, creating a tinderbox for devastating wildfires in the future. Unfortunately, the logging industry has been curtailed by government regulations and a 'preservation' mindset amongst the general public, and markets for smaller-diameter trees, which would be harvested in a thinning to improve forest health and reduce fire hazard, are virtually non-existent. State-owned (Bureau of Land Management) lands encompass millions of acres in New Mexico, and from a timber perspective are being "managed" by benign neglect. State Foresters know what should be done (i.e., thinning), but are prevented from taking appropriate action by bureaucratic red-tape and regulations. Expect to be hearing news reports about New Mexico conflagrations in years to come!
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