Standing trees killed by drought

[moodnacreek]

There is no worse time to cut pine than in the spring. Right now is the time.

[Magicman]

Landowners will be recovering/salvaging logs this Winter and next year's sawing will be "take a number and get in line".  

[Sod saw]

.   


Sounds like Magicman is about to "un-retire".


.

[Magicman]

I drove to Baton Rouge Saturday and the dead Pine trees along I55 is horrendous.  I am saying that this is more Pine Beetle killed but the trees were already stressed from the drought.  

The Oaks that were stressed from the freeze in March coupled with the drought had already turned brown so it will be Spring before we can see what the long term situation is with them.

I have not retired but during this year I have refused and/or passed off sawing jobs that mostly were over ~40 miles away.  I am already getting calls that I am giving "no sooner than January" and probably beyond that.  I told one caller that his logs would be good as long as they were sawn before Summer and he was OK with that.

I have a 22 log job scheduled for Dec 1st-2nd and a "whole house" framing lumber job to look at probably tomorrow.  He has 29 logs on the ground and still falling and skidding. 

Yup, tighten my drawers because it's gonna be a wild ride next year.  :

[doc henderson]

MM is there enough benefit to have a helper?  i.e. are any grandsons interested on taking over the sawmill business?  say in 20 years or so when you retire?

[Magicman]

With the customers providing help there is benefit to me.  (It was during the Covid thing when help was not available and Luke helped me.)

Ben & Luke are deep into the fiber optics placing business with Marty, so the sawmill business will fad away with me. 

[Den-Den]

Generally, I consider dead pines to be still OK when some pine cones are still attached but I have not found an indicator that is 100% valid.  Earlier this year I cut several dead pines that had died about the same time.  Quality of the wood varied from excellent to not worth sawing.  Be careful about buying dead pine logs, it would be painful to have to burn logs that you paid for.

[jasonb]

MM

I was really shocked at the amount of dead trees along I-55.  

[Magicman]

Yes, it is really bad, actually depressing.  I looked at a whole house sawing job this morning that has 29 logs bunched now and will need at least 100.  All of them are bucked to 17'.  I am expecting that the entire job will be from beetle killed trees.  This job is scheduled to begin sawing January 8th.

[MacFly]

Beetle kill in CO is actually what sparked this journey into milling for me.  They're really taking a toll on the property where I'll be working, so I'll have plenty of trees to learn on at least.  Although the more I learn the more I think that a fair bit will end up as firewood rather than lumber.  This site has been a really great resource.

[Magicman]

I made a trip to New Orleans & back Monday and really got my eyes filled with dead Pine trees.

My phone is ringing and I am now giving February scheduling.  Two calls yesterday. 

[Magicman]

 I was back at my Tree Farm today.


 

 All of the Pine trees in these pictures are dying or dead.

Pine Pulp is now bringing 50¢ per ton to the landowner so mine will die, fall, and rot in place.  Absolutely NO dead logs can be brought to the wood yard.  One dead log/tree in the load gets the entire load rejected.

[Magicman]

I met with a Forester and a Logger today and we made a "drive through" and looked at my Pine planted property.  They will go back and make a "cruise" and determine whether cutting the "chip and saw" and recovering the collateral pulp trees would be profitable.  I will be satisfied with whatever they decide.

[Southside]

How many acres do you have that are impacted? Would it be a complete harvest if you do go ahead with it?

[Magicman]

Approximately 60 acres encompassed by about 75 acres, but I will not clearcut it.  My objective to to cut all of the chip and saw and leave as much pulp as possible.  Yes, some or maybe all of what I leave may eventually die from beetles, but economics will not enter into this decision.  If I leave it, it may die, but if I harvest it, it did die.

Everything now depends upon the results of the cruise.  If there is not enough chip and saw to make it economical to harvest, nothing will happen.  If nothing happens, I may very well watch the entire tract die in place.  18 years down the drain.  Hindsight says that I should have set the entire open property in hardwood, but as my Dad always said; "Opportunity knocks once and then kicks you in the butt and walks away".

[Southside]

From the sounds of it had you planted it into hardwood your oak would be having serious issues too.  You made the move that was the best at the time, that's all you can go on.  Nothing says you can't replant the harvested pine to Gum.   :D

[Walnut Beast]

I feel for you Magicman!

[customsawyer]

The drought will put the trees in a stress or kill them out right. The pines it doesn't kill tend to get hit hard by beetles. There are is a place here in mid GA. that will take some of the dead trees for pulp as long as they have a good working relationship with the logger and know that they won't put trees on the truck that have been dead to long. Normally requires pictures to show that there is still a little bit of green in a few needles though. 

[Magicman]

The portions of the property where I planted Oaks are in good shape.  Hindsight says that I should not have planted Pine, only Oak.

The sawmills here are so overburdened with Pine, that they will take NO dead trees/logs.  One dead tree will reject the entire load.  The woodyards are completely full and the loggers are on a quota and can only deliver so many loads on their designated days. 

If mine is approved, it will be the chip and saw that pushes it into approval.  If it was entirely pulp, it would be rejected/passed over.  Mine was planted on 10-12 spacing in 2005 so 18 years and it has never been thinned.  I was not planning to harvest anything for another 5 years.

Mature Oak/hardwood forest are another story.  It will be next Summer before landowners realize how much loss that they have.  First from the freeze that we had in late March that killed the new leaves coupled with the severe drought this Summer.  It is not going to be good.

I am now telling potential sawing customers that it will be March or probably later before I could even talk to them about sawing.  It ain't good.

[Southside]

I see the same thing coming here with reference to not being able to market pine.  I don't know of a single hardwood planting that has happened around me at all.  Way too much pine and only a couple of options to sell it to. 

[jpassardi]

That's a shame Lynn. I hate seeing waste.

[Kit B]

Wow, what a nightmare, as a person with a couple hundred acres of planted pines I can only imagine the anguish.

[Magicman]

My timbered property is and has always been principally hardwood with only a sprinkling of Pine.  There are ~250 acres of hardwood.  I acquired the property in 2004, and machine planted the open land/fields in 2005 with Pine because it was the simple thing to do.  Also the business plan looked good.  The total acreage is 346.5; half inherited and half bought.   The property taxes are $14 per acre per year so owning property ain't cheap.  That plus I lease an additional 500 acres for hunting and recreation.


 
My property is red and 200 acres of the lease is yellow.  The remaining 300 leased acres are not shown.  The open fields in the top (North) portion are what are now planted Pine.  The Cabin is in the top right and the "Strawfield" is in the center.  The two brown portions are food plots.

[thecfarm]

Never know what mother nature will do to you.  :(

[Magicman]

I noticed today that the MDOT has a large cutter on the Interstate falling dead plus the nearby SYP trees.  The downed trees are being bunched/piled rather than being hauled.  I have no idea whether they will be burned or ??