Do any of you own timber land?

Need a consulting forester for valuation. Recreation is driving land prices more than timber nowadays in most cases. Your state extension service probably publishes stumpage values quarterly, but the aren’t good indicators of an individual property. Too many factors involved.

Break it down a bit more than "timberland" which is too vague a term to get close to evaluate.

1) What size? Anything less than 100 acres will be more of a hobby and less of a commercial grade investment

2) Is it currently in pine plantion or natural timber? What age?

3) Has it been professionally managed in the past?

4) Is there standing timber now or a clearcut?

5) Does it have good road frontage? Future development potential?

In very, very general terms, if it is pine plantation that has been well managed, it would yield about $2000 to $3000 per acre as a 35 year old clearcut. Then you would have to hold back about $250 per acre to spray and plant back. Then your revenue from the thinnings at 15 and 25 years would roughly pay for the expenses such as burning and spraying to keeo the stand clean. Consider those as maintenance revenue generators, not as cash flow generators.

That's the back of the envelope formula, but it varies wildly based on a variety of factors.

Also, if those prices seem low, it's because there is a huge over inventory of standing pine timber in the SE USA right now. And getting worse. Those prices were better 30 years ago. When adjusted for inflation, pine timberland has been a catastrophic investment since about the year 2000. The only thing that has bailed out many timberland investors is the appreciation of underlying land value in areas of growth or high recreational value. The timber itself has been breath taking in its loss of value.

As an example: small pine logs (called chip n saw) were bringing $30 per ton 30 years ago. Now in some markets you are lucky to get $10. Pine puilpwood routinely sold in the $12-15 range and is currently $2-5 in most markets. In some places it is zero. Some places it cannot even be harvested.

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Also, if those prices seem low, it's because there is a huge over inventory of standing pine timber in the SE USA right now. And getting worse. Those prices were better 30 years ago. When adjusted for inflation, pine timberland has been a catastrophic investment since about the year 2000.

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How do you foresee the next 20 years playing out? Seems.. dreary

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The only thing that has bailed out many timberland investors is the appreciation of underlying land value in areas of growth or high recreational value. The timber itself has been breath taking in its loss of value.

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This. It's almost you do it now to claim Ag status to not have to pay extreme property taxes rather than making money harvesting timber.

Thanks for the thoughtful response!

$4,300/acre wow