What to do w/ 14ac of land?

[Fixemall]

I dedicated only 4 acres of my land to profit crop and ended up growing landscaping product...burning bush, juniper, rose of Sharon and four varieties of arbor vitae...big plants make big money.

 

[forgeblast]

Crep is a goverment program called conservation reserve enhancement program,(Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program)
there are many different "varieties" of the program. Some in different states provide habitate for game animals.
Mine was set up to shore up a wet land which in turn shores up the cheseapeak bay. (we are a watershed of the bay).
I have a 15 year contract to plant so many trees per acre and have 70% make it. I get so much money per year based on my soil type. After 15 years you can renue it but I wont, I may depending on the tree sizes selectively cut every other row of trees to provide a release cutting.
To plan for it I sprayed roundup in strips ten-15 feet wide and then criss crossed it at 10-15 feet. Where the lines met I sprayed a larger circle. I did this in the fall, then the next spring I planted the trees and installed the tree tubes. Now this year I did not mow at all, and sprayed a bit around the tubes, but because of my bees I only sprayed once in the spring before I got them and once in the fall when it was colder, near dusk.
Contact your local usda agency to find out what the going rate is. There was also a list of 30-40 trees to pick from, yes you could mix some pines in but not 100%.

 

[Pilot]

If you are thinking forest trees, pay attention to Clemsonfor--he's a forester and he has eastern experience.

Hay: My neighbor leases out about 8 acres for hay. The guy who manages it has done it a lot and has a lot of acres under contract. He rehabed half the acreage a couple years ago and it didn't turn our well and I suspect he will do it again. I can see lots of weeds. The landowner just kicks back and collects a share of the yield.

Christmas trees do take a lot of work. I am in one of the biggest Christmas tree counties in the country in the biggest Christmas tree state. Some years are good, some not so good. Your trees are ready and there's a recession. If you don't find a buyer, what do you do with your 6-10 year old trees? One year, noble firs sell well and everybody plants nobles. When the nobles are ready for harvest, so are everyone else's and there's a glut on the market. Or when there's a good Christmas tree year, hay growers decide to grow Christmas trees and again, a few years later there's a glut. And trees are always being harvested in the most miserable weather.

BTW, around here, Christmas trees are harvested with helicopters swinging them to the landing. Much faster than by ground equipment and no growing space is taken up with roads.

So, do you really want to be a farmer? If you decide against trees, I suggest you reconsider and find someone who wants to lease your land.

For myself, I chose timber, but I am a retired forester. I planted my Doug-firs in 1993 on 10 acres and they are now about 10" in diameter and 60 ft. tall on medium site quality land.

 

[Redneck in training]

We own about 80 ac of land. We have about 30 ac of crop land. Since I don't have the equipment such as planter, disc etc I do 50/50 with my neighbor. He does all the work, we split expenses and I get half of the net profit. In the past before we did crop we did hay the same way. It is pretty painless arrangement. No written contract. All is done by a handshake on year by year basis.

We planted oaks, black walnut, birches, aspen, poplars scattered on about 8 ac around the house. The rest of the property is forest of mostly hedge trees. We buy trees from the state tree nursery about 50 cents each while minimum is 500 trees.

If you want to get rid of your barn hire local fire squad to burn it for training purpose.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

On prductive land like i bet he has in maryland 400TPA is way to few. I would not put less than 600 out per acre. Id plant it 680 or a 8x8 spacing. Even an aggressive thrid row thin would only put you back to 450 TPA after the first thin.

Clemsonfor,

I am not here to argue with you in any way.

I have a logger with a masters in foresty and my local Dept of Forestry guy advising me and what I posted is verbatim my plan for my Virginia land. I have RICH soil with plenty of water and water retention.

My land was neglected for a good 15 to 20 years by people who did not follow forestry practice and let me tell you that at approx 350 to 400 Loblolly pines per acre they were cramped and their growth was VERY limited.

My goal is to harvest saw timber, not pulp wood, because it pays MUCH BETTER. On my land 680 TPA more than 50% would die and most would be small thin trees (pulp wood).

I only know about my land, and my trees. You may know FAR MORE, and maybe with different species of trees I can do more like what you advise. I was only repeating the advice I recieved from forestry professionals to a guy in a very similar environment.

Maybe I am not recalling things exactly, maybe I've been given bad advice, I'm not claiming to be a forestry expert. But it was not my intention to put out bad information.

Please have a great day.
Be well,
David

 

[Marty38]

Diversify. Some no (low) maintenance timber trees , some ornamentals, some fruit. Like was previously said Xmas trees are a lot of work , having worked in the fields for years. Shearing trees in July is no fun. Too many ground wasp attacks

 

[Marty38]

One more thing. Dig a pond to go fishing while you watch it all grow.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

One more thing. Dig a pond to go fishing while you watch it all grow.

AMEN!

Both sides are great idea. the digging and building the pond, and the lazying on the banks fishin!

That is the best advice yet!:thumbsup:

David

 

[Redbug]

And if you plant more trees...you may have a good place to hunt...

 

[MossflowerWoods]

And if you plant more trees...you may have a good place to hunt...

Last year, when I bought this place, at approx 400 trees per acre and something well over 20 years of growing time, my land was literally trackless. it was very dark under the trees and nothing but bugs and thorny vines.

The main deer trails were on overgrown quad trails, and the old fire road/perimeter path, or they were in brush so thick only a deer could get through (and I'm pretty good at beating the brush).

All the deer cams showed MANY deer, but only passing through in the middle of the night. No bedding, and no real food except my lawn on the whole property. I got zilch last year.

We logged in Nov, and the deer started coming through. I went down to approx 150-180 larger trees per acre (most at least chipping saw sized right now) all the pulp and junk trees were largely gone. Deer came through more often, and at more hours, but they still did not stay, only transiting.
What is my point? You need to have FOOD and SHELTER to have deer LIVE on your property. Too many trees stops both.

There is now sunlight hitting the ground at least a few hours of every day. My trees are getting fatter, and I have AMAZING weeds, briars, saplings, etc growing like MAD. I am hoping this has created a reason for the deer to LIVE on my property more, so I have better chances of getting a couple during hunting season.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

The moral of my story is plant ENOUGH trees to accomplish your goal, whatever that goal might be!

Be well,
David