As hurricane season is in full swing, our area will likely see unfortunate damage to timber resources. If your timber investment is damaged by a hurricane or other weather event, you may be able to claim the loss for tax purposes. Land & Timber Management, Inc. is qualified to assist you with a timber damage assessment and appraisal in the event that you suffer a loss. In addition, storm damage can often yield further timber stand degradation and damage due to bugs and fire hazard. Please contact us today - the sooner we can take a look at the damage, the more accurate we can be and the faster we can get the remainder of your stand protected. Call our office at 850-668-8333.

Here at LTM we often hear the excuse from older landowners that they don’t plan to reforest (that is, plant trees) on land they just harvested because “Why would I? I won’t live to see those trees mature.” After wishing them a long and healthy life, we like to give the following three reasons for why they should consider planting, even in the off-chance that they head for greener pastures before the trees can be harvested.
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1. It’s Good for Your Investment Portfolio: The money that you spend on reforestation isn’t money that you’re throwing away. It’s a direct investment back into the overall land value. If it costs you $10,000 to plant trees today, you could turn around and sell your land for $10,000 more tomorrow than you could yesterday. And that investment will increase in value every day as those trees mature. Pre-merchantable tree value is a calculation I regularly make on land listings to make sure the Seller is getting paid the full value for his or her timber asset at closing time. Also, productive property is much easier to sell than unproductive property. If you don’t intend to sell your property, then by planting now you will be handing down a growing investment to your heirs rather than an unproductive piece of property that will, by that time, be much more costly to put back into production. It’s good financial practice.
2. It’s Good for the Land: If your land isn’t growing pine trees, it will still grow something. That something is usually briars, weeds and lower genetic hardwoods and pine that will take many more years to mature than a pine plantation. As these less productive species grow, the cost to put the property back into planted pine production increases exponentially as the regrowth becomes larger and harder to control by conventional forestry means. The growth of the natural stand will also stagnate very quickly. Unless your goal is to have a natural forest in 75 years (which I’m less optimistic that you’ll live to see), keeping the land productive and actively managed will preserve aesthetics, reduce costs, promote wildlife habitat and protect against wildfire threats and disease, among other reasons. It’s good land management.  
3. It’s Good for Everyone Else: The Florida Forestry Association (floridaforest.org) has a slogan that I think captures this point nicely – “Working Forests Work[1].” Keeping land in timber production that would otherwise be left to become an overgrown mess has many societal benefits. Forest products help produce over 5,000 items that we use in our day-to-day lives. Just in Florida, the forest industry has a $14.6B impact on the state economy and provides over 76,000 jobs.[2] Productive forests also clean the air and water better than a stagnated natural forest resulting from a clearcut. A 2012 study by the University of Florida calculated the estimated value of managed forestland to be over $5,000 per acre when including water purification, carbon stocks, timber and wildlife.[3] It’s good land stewardship.

​It’s tough to spend the money on reforestation knowing that you might not be around to see the trees mature. But we think the reasons above make a compelling case for why it’s a good idea for your pocket, your land, and your community.


[1] “Working Forests Work” brochure: http://floridaforest.org/wp-content/uploads/WFW-ad-for-Fresh-From-FL.pdf

[2] Ibid.

[3] University of Florida, IFAS: Stewardship Ecosystem Services Survey Project: http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/CFEOR/docs/EcosystemServices.FloridaStewardshipReport.Jul2012.pdf

2nd Quarter 2015 Southern timber stumpage prices showed slight declines over 1st Quarter performance in all but one product category: Hardwood sawtimber rose slightly quarter to quarter. Pine sawtimber, chip-n-saw, and pulpwood, and hardwood pulpwood dropped by a small percentage. Year-over-year performance was better for the higher product groups, with Pine and Hardwood sawtimber, and pine chip-n-saw showing small gains over a year ago. Pine and Hardwood pulpwood declined year-to-year, with Pine pulpwood stumpage highest in Florida this quarter at just over $14 per ton on average.

Looking forward, U.S. housing starts continue to show strong recovery, especially in the South. This trend is expected to continue as evidenced by strong upward performance of new building permits, and has historically correlated to demand for lumber, and therefore timber prices. We expect to see growth in the timber markets as housing continues to climb, barring any market correction.

Southern timberland real estate asking prices rose this quarter to just over $2,050 per acre on average. Tracts fewer than 1,000 acres continue to sell at a slight premium over larger tracts.

Bottom Line: We are still waiting for timber markets to respond to the ever-improving housing recovery. Volatile stock markets and global uncertainty continue to affect investor confidence. Even so, timber markets and land sale markets have held steady in general over the past year and continue to show a growth in demand for quality timberland properties.   

For an in-depth analysis of your timberland property, or to discuss how timberland can improve your portfolio, please Contact Us today to discuss. 

We find that many timberland owners aren't aware of all the various ways to earn income from their property besides timber harvests. LTM are experts in identifying as many ways to earn additional returns from your land as it will support. If you have never considered these options, call us today and let us discuss ways we can start putting your land to work for you.

• Hunting Leases
• Pine Straw Contracts
• Apiary (Honey bee) Leases
• And more!

Contact Us.

The big winner is hardwood sawtimber, which shows a more than $6 jump year over year, or a nearly 24% increase. Hardwood pulpwood growth is strong as well with a 19% increase of its own. We are projecting that hardwood markets will continue to show increases in the near-term. If you have hardwood that you have considered harvesting, talk to us about timing your sale to take full advantage of the market movement.

Pine product year over year increases are still respectable: Sawtimber (+5%), Chip-n-saw (+4%), and Pulpwood (+4%). Florida and Georgia were the leaders in the southeast pine pulpwood markets, both with stumpage prices over $14/ton, and Florida nearing $15.

In other market news, housing starts and home improvement projects are still growing, but at a slower rate than expected earlier this year. Fuel prices dropped lower this quarter.

In real estate, average timberland transaction prices in the South were around $1,800/acre, well above the nationwide average of $1,475 and last year's south-wide average of $1,595. This may well be a time to consider divesting timber assets from your portfolio. If you would like to discuss, give us a call.


Source: Timber Mart-South, The Journal of Southern Timber Prices, 3rd Quarter 2014, Vol. 39, No. 3