I recently attended a continuing education course for my forestry license. This stimulated some thoughts that might interest our clients and readers. Many landowners are reluctant to spend additional money on timber stands. The length of the rotation or time it takes to receive any benefit for the capital invested in the stand takes too long. If you view your timber stand like a corn or soybean crop, you have to control competing vegetation and fertilize or you will not have any yield at the end of the year.
The loss of growth in pine stands from competing hardwood vegetation compounds. Studies show that 10% hardwood competition results in a 20% loss in pine volume. Twenty percent hardwood encroachment results in approximately 40% loss of pine volume. This is the major reason why we have such a large shift to chemical site preparation over mechanical site preparation. There is still a need for mechanical site preparation in the correct application, though. The herbicides we use are site specific and are very environmentally friendly. Depending on the product used, many of the forbs and legumes valuable for wildlife foods are not harmed. The species of hardwoods we want controlled which compete with the pine are mostly eliminated. We have also seen a reduction in cost of these forestry herbicides, too. It is a fact that properly site prepared pine plantations will produce higher volumes yielding higher returns for your capital invested.
Different sites require different applications of herbicide. Different pine species have different tolerances for herbicide. It is important to plan what pine species you want to plant and have the correct herbicide application for the pine and the site being treated. Not only do we use herbicides for site preparation prior to planting but we can control vegetation at any time during the rotation of the timber. Longleaf pines are very sensitive to herbicides and special attention is needed on those sites.
Fertilization is a practice used extensively by industry but not so much for private landowners. It does provide a good return if you have the capital to invest. You can fertilize at planting or later in the rotation. We have seen data where fertilizing after crown closure when competing vegetation is controlled provides good returns. It takes about 7 to 8 years to utilize the fertilizer. The fertilizer is mainly nitrogen and phosphorous. Several things happen when you make the application at age 7 to 10 in the rotation. Rotation means life of the pine stand – 30 to 35 years. Obviously, we can harvest whenever we want as soon as the stand is large enough to harvest, approximately 15 years of age. At crown closure, you have reached a point where competing vegetation is controlled and pines are getting full utilization of the fertilizer. The strategy is to harvest at or near the time the fertilizer is fully absorbed. Your trees will grow to be a larger diameter sooner. This will mean they may be large enough to move to the next product class and become more valuable. You will get your return sooner at an intermediate stage of the rotation. The character of your property will also change sooner, becoming a larger, more open, mature timber stand.
These two applications do enhance your yields and returns. It does require considerable investments in your timber stand, though. Other factors involved in your timber investment are number of trees planted per acre, time of thinning and harvest, and wildlife habitat. I like a multi-use approach and a very diverse stand. Diversity and character have a tremendous bearing on the value of the land and your investment.
Let me know if you have questions or we can be of assistance in making your land and timber investment all it can be. Our goal is to help you reach your goals.