Re-tooling Your Pine Strategy: Going Forward

Announcer: Farm and Family is a production of the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Amy Myers: Today, we're talking about retooling your pine strategy going forward. Hello, I'm Amy Myers, and welcome to Farm and Family. Today we're speaking with Dr. Randy Rousseau, Forest Extension Specialist at Mississippi State University Extension.

Randy, today we'll be discussing why and how Mississippi forest land owners should consider a different strategy for growing pine trees. What is the difference between this strategy and the previous ones that the non-industrial private land owner used in the past?

Randy Rousseau: Well, Amy, to understand this, we have to realize something, that over the last 20 to 25 years we have seen the elimination of what we call vertically integrated companies, with a vast majority of these companies selling their land to timber investment management organizations known as TIMOs or REITs. These companies are more short term oriented and typically hold onto the land for a 10 to 20 year period, then selling that land off. But one of the biggest change that we have seen has been the loss of the great deal of our pulp and paper market to offshore companies, both in South America and China. Those companies are producing pulp and paper at a much lower cost, due to their lower costs of labor, insurance, and less environmental restrictions. The loss of the pulp and paper mills is not only a tremendous financial loss to the local communities, both a number of employees that are working at the plant, plus the surrounding community because the number of individuals it employs directly as local contracts at the mills. 

In addition, the pulp and paper mills relied on what is termed pulpwood, which is coming from their first pine thinnings or small, poorly formed trees, which have little economic value other than what's used in paper production.

Amy Myers: Okay, I understand that this market has been greatly impacted. What has that got to do with growing trees?

Randy Rousseau: Well, in the past, we planted our pine trees on a per acre basis with many of them being at 800 to 900 trees per acre. Seedlings and even genetically superior seedlings were cheap, using usually about five cents per tree. In addition, a lot of land owners planted seedlings but did not do much to help them get established, and thus, part of the high number of seedlings was due to the expected mortality during the first couple of years. As the trees grew, they began to compete with each other for light, nutrients and water. These stands became overcrowded, and mortality ensued. 

To avoid this and to maintain good growth in your stands, they were thinned at an early age, allowing the remaining trees to have more space for growth. This thinning and the first thinning was determined to be a pulpwood thinning, which the land owner received about three to seven dollars per ton. The next thinning, which would be done again in five years or 10 years later, would have a strong component of pulpwood sized material as well. But when the pulpwood market vanished or has greatly diminished, the land owner no longer has this as a viable outlet, that something needs to be done to avoid the overcrowding and stress placed upon the trees as they actually grow, and we see more disease and insect problems cropping up. 

At the end of a 30 year rotation, you will only have about 100 to 125 trees per acre, and hopefully the vast majority of these trees will be of saw timber value.

Amy Myers: What can we do about this?

Randy Rousseau: Well, the first thing is to realize the pulpwood market for our pine trees is probably going to decline, but the most important thing to realize: You should be trying to grow quality trees out there, and that I mean straighter stems, smaller branches, those that are almost flat or horizontal, and trees that don't exhibit much forking at all. You also have to understand the genetics of the trees will control this, and the purchase of high quality genetic seedlings should be done. But you also realize that you need to invest in strong civil cultural practices, such as competition control. Better seedlings should be planted at about 400 to 450 trees per acre, which is less than half of what we had done normally 10 years ago. I would also suggest that you invest in pruning, so that you get a much clearer bole or clearer wood from the lower bole of your tree. I think that these steps are needed to ensure that you're producing quality pine trees on every acre of your plantation forest.

Amy Myers: Today we've been speaking with Randy Rousseau, professor. I'm Amy Myers, and this has been Farm and Family. Have a great day.

Announcer: Farm and Family is a production of the Mississippi State University Extension Service.