Manage Woodlots For Income - Dave Apsley, Ohio State University, from the 2018 Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, March 6 - 7, Ada, OH, USA. More presentations at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZBwPfKdlk4SB63zZy16kyA

1. Managing Your
Woodlot for Income
Dave Apsley
Natural Resources Specialist
Ohio State University Extension
Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference
March 7, 2018 - Ada, Ohio

2. Why do you own your woodland?

3. Develop a Plan to Help You Reach Your Goals
 Helps you to refine your objectives and to set reasonable
goals.
 Helps you to focus Time, Interest, Money and Energy to
accomplish Goals
 May be needed to get a property tax reduction
(OFTL and CAUV) and to be eligible for cost-share on
projects (EQIP- Environmental Quality Incentives Program)

4. http://mylandplan.org

7. Know what you have! A good inventory:
 Is needed for a forest management plan
 Helps you to identify resources and options
 Timber value and future potential
 Wildlife Habitat
 Potential sites for non-timber forest
product
 Helps you to evaluate condition of your forest
 Stocking
 Forest health issues etc.

8. Know what you have!
A good inventory:
 Will allow you to determine your Basis
 Reduces the taxes that you pay on the proceeds from a future
timber sale
 Help you determine growth rates and rates of return
 Helps you to harvest when your
trees are mature
 Financially mature
 Biologically mature

9. What Inventory Data is Needed?
 Age/Size Distribution
 Species
 Site Quality
 Tree Health & Vigor
 Growth Rate
 Maturity
 Stocking
 Current Value
 Quantity
 Quality

10. Identify Forest Stands
Groups of trees with
similar:
Age Distribution
Site Quality
Species Mix

11. Tree Health and Vigor – Poor Crown Condition

12. Tree Health and Vigor – Large Healthy Crown

13. Maturity – White Oak

14. Trees are Cylinders with Taper
 Measure Length
 Measure Diameter
 Estimate Taper
 (Tables take care of this)
 Reduce for Slab and Kerf Loss
(Tables do this also)
Product Sale - Quantity

16. Quality

17. Ready to Harvest? How do you decide?
 Landowner objectives
 Condition
 Value
 Size
 Quality
 Risks
 Markets
 Maturity

18. So how do we determine if your
trees/woods are mature?
How do you define maturity?

19. Jacobson, M. 2017Forest Finance 8: to Cut or not to cut-Tree Value and
deciding When to Harvest timber. PSU Extension

22. First we need to know some basics
about tree value:
 As trees increase in diameter (d.b.h.) and height
they increase in volume and value
 As d.b.h. increases the usable height can also
increase which adds volume
 As d.b.h. increases the value of the product that
can be produced increases
 Tree quality/grade is also diameter dependent

23. Observations on Financial Maturity
1. If butt long will increase in grade in the evaluation period it is
not financially mature
2. The rate of earning power (%) is less for large diameter trees
3. The rate of earning power is lower for high quality trees
4. Earning power is greatly increased by an increase in tree
quality
5. Earning power increases with diameter growth rate
6. Trees with greater merchantable height have slightly greater
earning power
7. Trees that increase in merchantable height have higher
earning power.
Heiligman, OSUE F-48
Trimble, GR, J.J. Mendel, R. A. Kennell. NE-292

24. Jacobson, M. 2017Forest Finance 8: to Cut or not to cut-Tree Value and
deciding When to Harvest timber. PSU Extension

25. Jacobson, M. 2017Forest Finance 8: to Cut or not to cut-Tree Value and
deciding When to Harvest timber. PSU Extension

26. Why is tree grade so important?
• Grade 1 or veneer logs may
be 3-10 times more valuable
than lower quality logs of the
same size or species.
• Compare prices by grade on
the timber price reports.

28. Ohio Timber Price Reports
http://ohiowood.osu.edu
http://woodlandstewards.osu.edu

30. The 12” PA black cherry
 7 rings per inch- 2 inches every 7 years
 PA 2007 Prices used:
 12-14 d.b.h - $602/MBF
 16 d.b.h. - $1,481/MBF
 18 d.b.h. - $2,360/MBF
Jacobson, M. 2017Forest Finance 8: to Cut or not to cut-Tree Value and
deciding When to Harvest timber. PSU Extension

31. The 12” PA black cherry example cont.
Jacobson, M. 2017Forest Finance 8: to Cut or not to cut-Tree Value and
deciding When to Harvest timber. PSU Extension

32. What does this mean for you?
It all comes back to your reason for owning your woodland
• Maximum timber income?
• If not it is something to think about, but…
Most importantly
• Work with a professional forester to develop a
management plan
• Implement the plan with assistance from a forester
• Modify the plan as conditions change

33. When you do decide to harvest:
 Mark all trees to be harvested
 Pay attention to timber markets
 Avoid high-grading and diameter-limit harvests
 Remove low-grade, risky trees to make room for “more
valuable” trees
 Don’t remove trees before they reach their grade potential

34. When you do decide to harvest:
 Remember to protect residual trees from felling and
skidding damage
 Follow BMP’s to prevent loss in site productivity
 Make the process competitive, none of this matters if you
don’t get a fair price for the trees that you are selling
 Avoid selling on shares
 Consider effect on regeneration
and invasive species
 And………….

35. http://callb4ucut.com

36. http://osafdirectory.com

37. David Apsley
Natural Resources Specialist
Ohio State University Extension
apsley.1@osu.edu
740-710-3009
http://u.osu.edu/seohiowoods
Questions?