Pine straw mulch is a favorite material for landscapers and gardeners in the southern United States. Millions of pine straw bales are used each year.
Producing pine straw can be a profitable source of income for landowners. According to some sources, it's possible for landowners with pine stands in the right condition to make $150 per acre by allowing pine straw producers to collect fallen needles. Longleaf and Slash pines are the preferred species, but Loblolly is also being increasingly used.
Mississippi has some 255,000 acres of longleaf pine. Almost half of this acreage is in Perry, Forrest, and Lamar Counties in southeast Mississippi. Private landowners hold 137,000 acres of longleaf, more acres than any other ownership category. There are 101,000 acres of longleaf in public ownership, and 17,000 acres owned by the forest industry.
About 70 percent of Mississippi's 18.5 million acres of forestland is owned by private, non-industrial owners. These are all types of people who through family or other circumstances happen to own tracts of forestland.
Agroforestry is a land-use system that integrates spatial and rotational growth of woody perennials with herbaceous growth and/or livestock. Trees and other biotic components of the system interact both economically and environmentally.
Agroforestry can be used to supplement and diversify income, reduce financial risk for landowners, create excellent markets for wood and non-wood products, and meet consumer demand for specialty products.
Mississippi has about 18.5 million acres of forestland, which amounts to about 62 percent of the state's land area. Almost 70 percent of this forestland is owned by private, nonindustrial landowners, with more than 150,000 people owning 20 acres or more of forestland. Each landowner may have a different set of forest management objectives, so management decisions should be tailored to the needs of the landowner as well as the objectives and capability of the land.
When we think of wood, we often think of lumber or even the paper we write on, but wood and the chemicals derived from wood are around us constantly.
See the related PDF "List of Wood Products" for a list of items derived from trees and wood.
The Department of Sustainable Bioproducts is currently working with individuals and companies in Mississippi to help improve process conditions to produce high quality wood pellets economically. Wood pellets are compressed wood particles that are used as fuel. These pellets are already commonly used in some areas of the country, and in other areas, they are growing in popularity as primary fuel costs increase and concerns about global climate change build.
When identifying wood, it may only be necessary to determine if the wood is a hardwood or softwood. In other cases, determining if it is a white or red oak is necessary (especially if you are going to make barrels). And sometimes identifying the individual species is needed.
Depending on the level of identification that is needed, it may only take a glance at the wood or it may take several hours and the use of a microscope. Almost all trees produce wood cells that make it possible to distinguish their wood from the wood of another tree.
The Department of Forest Products in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi State University has a long history of industrial research and development
Projects have assisted industry in a number of areas including:
Use the form below to search a list of wood using industries in the state of Mississippi.
For information contact:
Rubin Shmulsky
662-325-2116