Slacker said:
Been considering using some acres to plant tree's for lumber. Primarily considering Black walnut. It already grows well on alot of my land, so I know I've got the soil for it. It is supposed to be the most valuable lumber in N. America. This would be a 15-18 year project, to be harvested near retirement.
I've got a backhoe to dig with, and cleared land to plant on.
Is this a fools dream or has anyone actually tried it? It will changed the tax status of my land, and it'll give me a tax shelter for "tractor related toys"....so whats the downside? Bushhogging between the tree's sometimes, spraying and trimming, but that all sounds pretty fun to me!
You guys better talk me out of this....or give me some good advice so the wife can't say -I told you so!- [
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Edited to add a great link that answers all my questions:
Black Walnut
Around 1989 or 1990 we bought 20 acres. 10 acres were already covered with about 20,000 mixed trees. There were also two fields... 6 acres and 4 acres respectively. We had the 4 acres reforested in 1990 or 1991. Our goal was to grow hardwood timber for our retirement, or to pass on to our children. We called our state forester, who came out and surveyed the plot, then gave us a list of recommended tree types for our soil. We planted 2000 trees in rows on that 4 acres. There is a row of pines and a row of mixed hardwoods, pines, hardwoods, pines, hardwoods, etc... The idea is that the pines grow really fast in a typical pyramid; wide at the bottom tapering to a point at the top. This makes deep shade channels for the hardwoods. That stresses them, so they start reaching for the sky to get to the sunlight. It forces the hardwoods to grow tall, straight and skinny, which is ideal for veneer lumber, which brings the best prices. After about 30 years, we will start removing the pines and thinning the hardwoods selectively. This will open up the shade channels and the trees will stop reaching and start getting fat. More veneer lumber in shorter, stout, straight trees than really tall, skinny ones = more $$$.
So, as you can see, it has been 16-17 years. The bases of the pines are 10-12 inches and are about 8" at chest height. They are about 30-35 feet tall. The hardwoods are starting to poke out above the pines, which makes them 35-40 feet tall. They are about 6-10" at the base and 6" at chest height. What I am getting at is they are no where near harvestable size after 16 years. We were told that it would be 40-60 years before we would get any hardwoods that are worth what we are after and that is exactly how it is looking. In the meantime, it has been a great joy to observe the forest grow and also a great joy to manage it. Our kids love to run around in it and the animal life is abundant. We may never cut it down, just for those reason.
The reason we went with mixe hardwoods was this... if a desease or insect infestation came through, it would only affect one of the many species of trees. If you plant all of the same species, you take the risk of being wiped out by one organism. Therefore, you can just about count on having to manage your single species forest with chemistry or intensive labor.
Indiana had a great deal on forestry projects. We had highly errodable soil, so we qualified for a 75% reimbusement on the project if we followed the state forester's program. Here's how it worked...
State forester tells you which types of trees will do best in your soil. You pick which ones you want from that list. We chose white pines, seven species of oak, tulip poplar, cherry and walnut. The state recommends a list of approved private foresters to plant the trees. You pay the private forester for the trees and the labor, the private forester picks up your trees at the state nursery and plants them on your property. The state forester comes back out, inspects, says Okey Dokey and sends you a check for 75% of the cost. 2150 trees + planting + first side spraying - 75% came out to about $265.00 for us!
Great deal. Look into it in your state!!! Only stipulation is we have to side spray or mow for 5 years, then we are free to do as we wish. That's it. Free and clear. The trees are ours and no government strings attached. Pretty sweet deal.
As for the labor involved... we were required by the state to either mow or side spray for weeds for the first 5 years. If we did not, they would take the money back on a pro rated scale. We chose to mow. Why? Because I had to drive down the rows with a tractor mounted sprayer anyway, so why not just mow instead of spray? It took the same amount of time and I was able to justify the cost of the brush hog to use on the rest of the property.
The state forester also gave us a plan for the existing 10 acre woods if we wanted to follow it. It recommends harvesting the existing locusts and large cherrys for firewood, which will free up shape channels for the small oaks and maples that are interspersed in there. We will do that later.
I recommend you talk to your state forester. The talk is free(you already paid for it with your tax dollars) and they can really give you some great ideas. Good luck with your forest. It is one of the most rewarding things we have ever done.
Attached is an arial shot of the place about 10 years ago. You can see the 4 acre field on the left. The spaces between the rows have since tightened up.
