How much does the AVERAGE acre of timber sell for to a logging company?

For an easy answer lets assume an average density hardwood/pine mixture of appropriate age to harvest. (I know there are a lot of factors to consider, just rough numbers are fine)

2/11/2007 4:04:54 PM

20,000 USD

2/11/2007 4:08:33 PM

Don't do it.

2/11/2007 4:10:53 PM

^? Why do you say this?

2/11/2007 4:20:38 PM

im about to sell 3/4 acre to some mexicans. just do that, its more profitable!

2/11/2007 4:23:53 PM

there was a thread on this a while back had all the info i think you'll need

2/11/2007 5:23:30 PM

^^^Cause I like trees and it looks terrible when they get done.

2/11/2007 5:52:25 PM

where is it located? (that makes a difference in $$)

how old is the forest?


what is the average diameter of the trees?

how many acres?

^reforestation improves the habitat for everything that lives in a forest

2/11/2007 5:56:06 PM

you can get decent amount of money for pulp wood. (if it has been logged in the last 10yrs or so)

Normally you want to try and log the land every 20 years.

but i think it's $1,000 every 10 acres or so.

2/11/2007 6:07:13 PM

nah, pulpwood doesn't pay shit anymore... pole timber and saw timber pays pretty well


if I knew the age of the trees and the # of trees per/acre and type per/acre I could give him a real good guesstimate


^ whole lot more money available than that

[Edited on February 11, 2007 at 6:14 PM. Reason : ...]

2/11/2007 6:13:23 PM

do pines net you more cash than regular oak/hardwood?

2/11/2007 6:20:45 PM

Harvesting every 20 years is a joke...

To really make money and manage the land right you should have a management plan put together with the help of the forest service taking into account any wildlife concerns. Even under the best conditions you could start from stratch and harvest every tree by year 35-45. This is only for pines though.

But as far as your question goes you need to give all the details that pwrstrkf250 asked for

^Depends on management given and age harvested. But under the perfect conditions I think oak/hardwood is alot better.

[Edited on February 11, 2007 at 6:23 PM. Reason : ^]

2/11/2007 6:21:33 PM

^ yep

^^ depends on what the age is and condition of the hardwood trees (lots of factors)

2/11/2007 6:23:22 PM

watch out for crooks. the timber industry is full of them.

2/11/2007 8:17:12 PM

2/11/2007 8:26:36 PM

$2500 in NC according to NCFS Service Forester 5-7

and yes pines do net more $$ than oaks/hardwood, b/c the rotation is short. most places can't grow high enough quality hardwoods...and those that can grow them don't have enough. pines are ready in about 40 years (in the coastal plain)...hardwoods in 60ish. pines grow the best in the coastal plain area. also, the industry is set up for pines, not hardwoods so much.

[Edited on February 11, 2007 at 11:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/11/2007 11:09:39 PM

^ that number depends on the age though


a 50 year old stand of pines planted at 550 trees per acre (spaced and rows) can bring more than 5k per acre sometimes

for those of you who have questions about this contact the NC forestry assoc at http://www.ncforestry.org

or contact me and I'll connect you with a quality forester

(timber is a huge business in this state, timber values have always gone up, and land always goes up)

2/12/2007 10:22:56 AM

Quote :

"^ that number depends on the age though a 50 year old stand of pines planted at 550 trees per acre (spaced and rows) can bring more than 5k per acre sometimes for those of you who have questions about this contact the NC forestry assoc at http://www.ncforestry.org or contact me and I'll connect you with a quality forester (timber is a huge business in this state, timber values have always gone up, and land always goes up)"

Yeah it depends on age but this is a conservative average.
I've seen clearcut harvests go from $300/ac (landowner getting ripped off) to $6000/ac.
But, your average clearcut in the lower piedmont/coastal plain is about 40 years old mixed pine-hardwood that was thinned once (usually too late) with pines that are on the low side of sawtimber specs.

The average selling price in say, Northampton County where all the landowners actively manage their forests will be around $3500-4000.

Prices vary a lot. The typical pine stand in NC is truely less than ideal. Lots of variables come into play when you're looking at timber value. Factors are:
-soil productivity
-competition control
-pine genetics
-initial stocking
-timing of intermediate thinnings
-fuel prices
-proximity to primary forest product producers
-weather (good timber on high ground is more valuable in wet years)
-tract size
-tract access
-merchandizing
-timber sale method

I'm a forester with the NC Forest Service.
If anyone has any questions then I'd be glad to answer.

[Edited on February 12, 2007 at 2:16 PM. Reason : Ohh yeah, forestry recently surpassed textiles and is NC's biggest industry.]

2/12/2007 2:15:18 PM

Quote :

"timber is a huge business in this state, timber values have always gone up, and land always goes up"

Do you have anything that tracks historical prices for timber? I'd just like to see how it has changed over the years.

2/12/2007 3:59:13 PM

Timber Mart-South:
http://www.tmart-south.com/tmart/

Forest2Market:
[link]http://www.forest2market.com/cgi-bin/db2<a href="http://www.exe/f2m_index.d2w/report[/link]" target="_blank">http://www.forest2market.com/cgi-bin/db2http://www.exe/f2m_index.d2w/report</a>

You have to be a member to see charts for past years.
Pine sawtimber has actually decreased a little since the mid 90's, but looking at very long term data it is on the rise.
Pine and hardwood pulpwood has decreased dramatically over time and in general is still decreasing. However, lately there's been a spike in pine pulp prices over the last few months (at least in the eastern NC area).

They keep telling us that the world market (Russia and China) could screw us over in the conifer sawtimber market, but that hasn't happend yet.

Biofuels could possibly save our pulpwood market in the future...

[Edited on February 12, 2007 at 9:00 PM. Reason : ]

2/12/2007 8:58:35 PM

not to mention they are growing some kinda trees in South America for pulpwood here

^^ I could probably piece together some numbers for you




[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 2:36 PM. Reason : .fumbler knows his shit, more than I do]

2/13/2007 2:35:20 PM

Yeah eucalyptus is big there....and I mean BIG.
A lot of eucalyptus plantations there will meet our pine sawtimber specs within 10 years (vs 40 for us).
Euc wood isn't good for structural timber though, just pulp and some furniture.

There are a lot of loblolly pine plantations in South America (making loblollies an exotic and potentially invasive sp to them).
A lot of their land will grow sawtimber when our trees aren't even ready for a second thin.

2/13/2007 8:05:08 PM

hurray for forestry

mah dad's a forestry prof here at ncsu

2/13/2007 8:07:25 PM