One concern landowners may have when making forestland management decisions is the cost of forestry practices. They may worry that they cannot afford to complete activities such as planting or understory control, so they choose to do nothing. Knowing even a range of costs for forestry practices can help with making decisions and may lead to better forest management.

Figure 1. Physiological regions in the South that were used in the 2018 Cost of Forestry Practices survey showing the Southern Coastal Plain (A), Northern Coastal Plain (B), and Piedmont or similar uplands (C).

This report summarizes the results of a 2018 survey to examine the costs of forestry practices across the southeastern United States. For this survey, three physiographic regions in the South were considered: the Southern Coastal Plain, Northern Coastal Plain, and Piedmont regions (figure 1). The results presented are based on 85 usable responses. Of those, 39 percent were from private family landowners, 4 percent were from publicly funded organizations, 26 percent were from consulting firms, 14 percent were from private forestry firms, and 9 percent of respondents reported “other” for their organizational type. The remaining 8 percent did not list an organization type. The results presented are adapted from the “2018 Cost and Cost Trends” Special Report in the November/December 2019 edition of Forest Landowner magazine.

Results

Mechanical Site

Mechanical site preparation was reported on 56,613 acres at an average cost per acre of $182.28 (table 1). This activity included practices such as shear-rake-pile-bed, subsoiling, and drum chopping. Single-pass operations averaged 33 percent less than double-pass operations and 54 percent less than triple-pass operations.

Table 1. Mechanical Site Preparation Costs Per Acre

* Too few responses.

Site Preparation Treatment	Number of Passes	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average
All	All	56,613	127.92	199.29	220.46	182.28
All	1	14,333	97.33	167.47	*	130.45
All	2	19,973	126.20	268.51	*	195.50
All	3	7,151	*	*	*	286.69

 

Planting

Pine seedlings were reported as being planted most often in 2018, for a total of 156,178 acres planted (table 2). The majority of respondents (53 percent) reported hand planting, 9 percent reported machine planting, and 38 percent reported both methods. Most of the pine seedlings planted were bareroot loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), which made up 74 percent of the total acres reported.

Pine seedlings planted averaged 553 per acre for hand planting and 613 per acre for machine planting (table 2). The average cost of machine planting bareroot pine species on cutover land was 25 percent more than the average cost of hand planting all bareroot pine seedlings on similar sites.

Table 2. Hand and Machine Planting Costs Per Acre and Purchase Cost Per Seedling Planting Method Acres Southern

* Too few responses. Overall planting costs per acre do not include seedling cost.

Planting Method	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre	Average Purchase Cost Per Seedling	Overall Average Seedlings Per Acre
Hand Planting
Cutover land, all pine, bareroot	50,706	74.00	58.65	*	63.54	0.10	580
Cutover land, all pine, container	11,534	*	86.67	*	95.62	0.17	563
All land type, loblolly pine, bareroot	67,922	*	*	*	62.79	0.09	580
All land type, loblolly pine, container	7,045	*	*	*	79.68	0.16	522
All land type, longleaf pine, container	8,857	*	86.41	*	112.98	0.20	522
All hand methods, all pine	95,978	71.67	66.92	93.67	60.41	0.12	553
Machine Planting
Cutover land, all pine, bareroot	54,600	*	78.52	*	80.02	0.09	590
All land type, loblolly pine, bareroot	47,297	*	86.37	*	88.53	0.09	574
All machine methods, all pine	60,200	*	78.52	*	116.93	0.09	613

 

Prescribed Burning

Fifty-five percent of survey respondents reported prescribed burning in 2018. A ground drip torch was used in all cases for a total of 74,545 acres at an average cost per acre of $31.92 (table 3). Regional differences in costs were reported. In general, prescribed burning practices reported in the Piedmont were more expensive than in other regions.

Table 3. Prescribed Burning Treatment Costs Per Acre by Ignition Type and Burning Purpose

* Too few responses.

Ignition Type	Burning purpose	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
Ground, drip torch	Site preparation	35,976	*	36.05	*	33.36
Ground, drip torch	Understory control	25,398	31.58	26.02	27.66	28.46
Ground, drip torch	All	74,545	29.94	32.70	30.28	31.92

 

Chemical Application

Chemical applications were reported by 72 percent of respondents who treated 122,995 acres in 2018 (table 4). Site preparation, mid-rotation release, and herbaceous weed control were the top reasons for treatment with the majority of acres (66 percent) treated as part of site preparation activities. Fifty-two percent of acres treated were aerially sprayed. Overall, aerial application methods were less expensive than ground application methods with the exception of herbaceous weed control. Additionally, the average cost per acre was, on average, higher in the Piedmont than in other regions.

Table 4. Chemical Application Costs Per Acre by Treatment Purpose and Method of Application

* Too few responses.

Treatment Purpose	Method of Application	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
Site preparation	Ground	18,035	77.56	85.38	*	83.83
Site preparation	Aerial	47,057	*	76.20	94.04	79.41
Site preparation	All	81,712	76.65	81.98	98.66	83.89
Midrotation release	Aerial	7,766	*	55.36	*	59.62
Midrotation release	All	26,200	*	65.54	*	66.22
Herbaceous weed control	Ground	15,951	*	*	*	24.23
Herbaceous weed control	Aerial	6,904	*	*	*	60.99
Herbaceous weed control	All	22,854	*	33.15	*	40.94
All	Ground	39,570	74.72	76.37	122.58	80.73
All	Aerial	63,471	77.19	69.01	90.32	74.44
All	All	122,995	78.86	73.01	97.10	77.09

 

Fertilization

Few respondents (12 percent) reported using fertilizer as a forestry practice. Of those who reported fertilizing
their forestland, they reported treating 49,577 acres at an average cost of $95.15 per acre (table 5). Aerial application of fertilizer accounted for 63 percent of all fertilization treatments reported in 2018. Aerial applications of a blend of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea were most common.

Table 5. Fertilization Costs Per Acre by Purpose of Application, Application Method, and Fertilizer Type

* Too few responses.

Purpose of Application	Application Method	Fertilizer Type	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
All	All	DAP	10,150	*	*	*	66.89
All	All	DAP+Urea	32,838	*	*	*	105.90
All	Ground	All	17,993	*	*	*	81.22
All	Aerial	All	30,996	*	*	*	97.60
All	All	All	49,577	*	*	*	95.15

 

Fire Protection

In 2018, only 15 percent of respondents reported using some method of fire protection on 257,500 acres at an overall average cost per acre of $12.21 (table 6). Protection methods reported included firebreaks, fire plows, and tractors. Primary methods of fire detection included self-observation, forestry commissions, neighbors, and hunting clubs.

Table 6. Fire Protection Costs Per Acre

* Too few responses.

Primary Method of Fire Protection	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
All	257,579	4.96	*	*	12.21

 

Timber Cruising and Marking

Timber cruising was reported by 38 percent of survey respondents. The majority (63 percent) reported using variable radius plots at an overall average cost of $10.53 per acre (table 7). Most (62 percent) of the 15,086 acres of marked timber operations reported were completed before thinning operations. Only 24 percent of respondents reported completing any type of marking activity on their lands (table 8).

Table 7. Timber Cruising Costs Per Acre by Inventory Purpose and Method Used

* Too few responses.

Inventory Purpose	Method Used	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
All	Fixed plot	76,169	18.80	8.51	*	15.55
All	Variable radius	466,420	11.41	9.65	*	10.53
All	All	546,289	14.77	9.42	14.50	12.27

 

Table 8. Timber Marking Costs Per Acre

* Too few responses.

Timber Marking Purpose	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
Thinning	9,383	*	*	*	41.20
All	15,086	31.67	43.00	67.17	29.25

Precommercial Thinning

Precommercial thinning is often completed early in a rotation and when trees may be in an overcrowded condition. For the 2018 survey, 18 percent of survey respondents reported precommercial thinning on 6,233 acres (table 9).

Table 9. Precommercial Thinning Costs Per Acre

* Too few responses.

Primary Thinning Method	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
All	6,233	*	*	*	149.98

 

Custodial Management

Custodial management costs may include activities such as road construction and maintenance, boundary line maintenance or surveys, insect and disease management, or legal fees. Only 22 percent of respondents reported custodial management activities in 2018 at an overall average cost per acre of $13.73 (table 10).

Table 10. Custodial Management Costs Per Acre by Operation Type

* Too few responses.

Operation Type	Acres	Southern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Northern Coastal Plain Average Cost Per Acre	Piedmont Average Cost Per Acre	Overall Average Cost Per Acre
All	943,941	*	*	*	13.73

 

Changes in Costs Estimates

When comparing 2016 to 2012 averages, the majority of costs decreased except for chemical applications and hand planting (figure. 2A). Comparisons to 2014 averages show that most costs increased except for timber marking, machine planting, and fertilization (figure 2B).

Figure 2. Percent change in costs of forestry practices (A) from 2012 to 2016 and
(B) from 2014 to 2016.

Summary

Forestry practice costs in the South have been more variable in the last ten years than in past decades. This is due, in part, to the fact that the forest industry has been affected during much of this time by depressed housing markets, timber demand, and stumpage prices. Another factor influencing the costs of forestry practices is financial pressure on corporate forest products companies. This pressure caused many companies to transition to timber investment management organizations (TIMO) or real estate investment trusts (REIT) or to divest of timberland completely. In addition, the low softwood stumpage prices during this time likely influenced decisions of landowners and managers that may have played a role in the variability of the cost of forestry practices. Further, liability concerns and labor issues seem to be affecting the costs of forestry practices, particularly in relation to tree planting and prescribed burning and should be something to watch in the future.

 

Download a PDF of Costs & Trends of Southern Forestry Practices 2018, FOR-2073.