re: Pine tree farm. What are the pros and cons?

Yes, some spots the gum came back heavy and others, oaks took over. That is one of the reasons of select cut every 40 years. Leaving behind oaks that the trunk is 20" at BH.

Get soil samples!!!!

This is a long term investment, that has a lot of variables. Weather, pine Beatles, disease, ext... You can get hybrid trees planted that will help out in some of these areas, but they are more expensive in the beginning.

As others have said get with a forestry consultant. They are worth the money you spend.

As others have said, going with a forestry consultant is a wise decision. If you are going to buy land that is already in pine, they will be a good source of information on the stand and how much it is worth.

If you are going to buy land that is natural and convert it to pine plantation, you will want something that drains well. Wet ground leads to poor pine production. Also, if you have any inkling that you will develop the land in the future for something other than timber, get that SOB delineated for wetlands. It will save you some headaches in the future, even if it is no longer valid at development. I've dealt with sites before that were not delineated, and they are a bitch (especially after harvest, and you are the one delineating it!!).

Also, a wetland delineation might give some insight into areas that will be lower producing. Again, pines, especially loblolly, don't like their feet to be too wet. I've worked for clients who decided they were not making enough money on pine and turned around and put 3000 acres back into bottomland hardwoods because it was too wet!

Not better than getting with a certified forester, but it gives you an idea of what you're working with and towards. They can guide you on what you should do and when you should do it.

Forestry is pretty complicated stuff. Pine production is basically all computer modeled now. The biggest variable is the seedlings. Hardwoods can be kind of, sort of, barely, to an extent . Hardwood forestry is an art


Eta: You will not be able to find those graphs online. I was given them by my teachers, who got them from the feds, state, universities, and companies who have done bazillions of dollars worth of research. That's why they don't post them online. I'll check some old books to see if I can find an example of one or two. They are also site/region specific

Eh, can't find any. You're basically looking at density vs age on average dbh curves. There are some curves you keep it in between to be optimal for tree growth, and viola, you win.

I think that's how they went. That was so long ago. Wish I would've kept a few, but the guys at LSU will help you out. Let me know if you want a contact # for more info

Have been looking at getting a chunk of property, ideally one with timber that can be harvested to offset the cost. However after finding some and doing some research ive discovered that stt parish are nazis and make it damn near impossible to have timber land. If its off a Parish road you can tack on some serious extra money to do anything with it, including development.

National Land Realty or Land Watch can help with that

They would people you could email for more information for the different parishes

Simple, don't buy land inside and be forced to support a communist parish. Property tax would likely make for a negative investment.

Oh, and hire a consulting Forster not a wood dealer or consultant slash wood dealer. There's a huge difference.

They've shut down a lot of paper mills in the last few years.

I know three foresters, all of whom have left the business in the last few years.

I take those as major caution signs for getting in the pine biz.

Louisiana Forestry Assoc.
LA Department of Ag and Forestry
Consulting Foresters of Louisiana PDF