Every woodland owner always want to maximize his income from a timber sale.
Many people would say you are crazy if you don’t. Achieving a high, fair
price is possible, but somewhat difficult or tricky to accomplish, unless done
correctly.
The higher the quality of timber, the easier it is to achieve a ‘good’
price. Quality sells, junk is junk. Let’s talk about black walnut and white
oak. For the last several years, black walnut is bringing a higher price than
ever before. The demand is so high that some of today’s ‘veneer’ logs were
only considered high quality sawlogs in recent years. There are some things
to consider, no, you really must do, to receive the best price for this
high valued hardwood.
If there is enough good quality black walnut, I number the
paint-marked saleable trees and sell the walnut separately or by itself. I
never sell walnut or veneer quality white oak in the warm or hot weather
because I know the price has dropped or is lower due to possible checking and
splitting of log ends, staining, etc. I never sell black walnut species from
around April 1st to near October 1st. If I can get the landowner more money
in cool or cold weather for the same trees, why sell when the weather is hot?
Really good white oak stands with lots of veneer quality are treated like
good black walnut sales. In an average stand of white oak I keep track of the
really good ‘veneer’ potential logs, but sell the marked trees along with
whatever other species I have marked.
On the opposite extreme, the red oak market is dead, and I cannot get a
good price for good trees since the demand is not there. Remember, the logger
must get a fair profit, too, and with no demand he can only sell most red oak
for pallet prices.
If the price is down, don’t sell. With most timber, in most cases, you
have a several year window of opportunity to sell mature timber. Watch the
markets and try to sell when the prices are up or high and during the time of
year when high quality trees bring more.
One major problem is that most timber is not veneer or grade log (lumber)
quality. Low quality timber that brings pallet or blocking prices can usually
be sold at any time of year and it brings the same. The common exception is
when the mills get their log yards full, prices are cut to discourage loggers
from bringing in more logs.
Just because the landowner keeps aware of price trends (everything seems
to have highs and lows) and plans to sell weather-wise in order to receive the
best price does not mean he will get a high, fair price. Why? If the
landowner does not know the quality of his saleable timber, how many trees he
is selling or the saleable board foot volume by species, he does not know what
his timber is really worth. If the landowner doesn’t know the worth of the
timber, how will he know what is a fair price? Always get help from a
professional forester to handle a timber sale. He or she will paint mark the
trees for sale (the landowner now has control of what is being sold) and
figure the estimated value by knowing how many trees of each species are being
sold and their volume, using the area¹s log scale.
We almost always bid out our timber sales, get the landowner his money in
advance of cutting, have a good Timber Sale Contract, and supervise the sale.
Check with your R.C.&D. office for a list of professional foresters in your
area.
Article by R. Scott Brundage, Consulting Forester, Certified Forester
#1443--.
Top of the Ozarks
RC&D Forestry Committee http://www.morcd.org/totorcd/
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