Publication Number 446-602, posted April, 1998
Authors:
Russell L. Hatcher, Extension Assistant, University of Tennessee;
Larry A. Johnson, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee;
George M. Hopper, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee;
James W. Pease, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech;
James E. Johnson, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech
Introduction
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Evaluating Alternative Tree Crops
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How to Use This Guide
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Cost Share Programs
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Descriptions and Uses
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Other Benefits
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Production Managment
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Appendix
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Financial Analysis
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References
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Case Study
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Farm income in the 13 states of the Southeast has risen steadily since the mid-1980's. With a higher rural and farm population than many other regions, a strong agriculture will continue to be important to the future of the Southeast.
Many producers would like to increase farm income and decrease income variability. This has caused a growing number of farmers to investigate new and diversified sources of income. A resource which has not been tapped to its full potential is marginal farmland, specifically its use for growing tree crops. There are over 30 million acres of woodland and idle pasture and cropland on Southeast farms. And much of this land could be producing valuable tree crops.
The Tree Crops for Marginal Farmland Project seeks to provide farmers with basic information about growing and marketing tree crops. Tree crops have many advantages for farmers with marginal or unused land. The cost of inputs is relatively low, economic returns may be quite competitive with alternatives, and there are important environmental benefits.
There are five introductory guides in this series, and each has an accompanying videotape. They provide information on a specific tree crop which can be grown on small or medium-sized tracts of marginal or unused farmland. All these crops are common to areas of the southeastern United States, but their economic potential should be investigated by farmers. The tree crops chosen for this series are:
Your decision to grow a tree crop should be made only after careful consideration of the growing time, expense requirements, market conditions, expected returns, and your personal objectives. These guides will help you make your decision. In addition, you should seek information from representatives or organizations such as your state Forestry Service, your local Cooperative Extension office,and private consultants.
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To use this publication to its best advantage, first read the section on production management, then read about production costs and marketing conditions in the economic analysis section. Next, read the two sample analyses of a black walnut timber and a black walnut timber/nut operation to get a better idea of how these investments can be evaluated. If you would like to conduct your own economic analysis using information specific to your situation, assemble your production costs and take them to your local extension agent or farm management agent for assistance.
Throughout this publication, photographs can be accessed through the underlined links in specific sections. These are provided on separate pages due to the large size of some of the photos.
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Black walnut is a well-known tree species, with a natural range covering most of the eastern United States. While an important commercial tree in the central states, black walnut is frequently overlooked as a potential investment alternative in the South. Excepting the Mississippi Valley and Coastal Plains regions, natural range for black walnut includes most of the southern states.
Black walnut is unique in that it provides two types of products, nuts and lumber. Most black walnut nuts are packaged and sold for home baking. The remainder are used in ice cream, commercial baking, and candy making.
The lumber of the black walnut is far more valuable than the nuts. The best logs are sliced for panelling or decorative veneer. Sawn black walnut is used for high-quality furniture, cabinets, interior joinery, rifle butts and gunstocks, boats, musical instruments, clock cases, carvings, and many other novelty products.
Although black walnut tree has been a high-return timber crop for decades, few plantations have been established. Many factors contribute to the lack of interest by landowners. One factor is length of the investment period. Like all other investments in timber plantations, years must pass before cash flow becomes positive.
Another factor may be the intensive management required. Black walnut plantations don't require the intensive management of conventional row crops, but numerous production problems must be overcome for plantations to be profitable.
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Within its natural range, black walnut grows well only on high- quality sites. Such sites are also attractive for growing row crops. However, there are cases where black walnut is preferable to row-crops because of small field size or difficulties with cultivation. You may be able to plant such parcels to black walnut trees without taking acreage away from current row crop production.
Poor sites have characteristics which will stress black walnut trees. These characteristics include insufficient moisture, too much moisture, harsh conditions from steep slope, hard pans and shallow soils with bedrock or gravel that restrict root growth. Unfortunately, you cannot improve a poor site.
To grow black walnut profitably, plant on suitable soils. Choose well-drained, loamy soils with a pH between 5 and 8. Generally, smooth and gently rolling landscapes offer the best sites. Study sites carefully for proper soil texture and drainage, since these are often the more limiting factors. In mountainous terrains, middle to lower north- and east-facing slopes as well as stream terraces and floodplains often make adequate walnut sites. Table 1 lists site considerations for black walnut.
Table 1. Site selection for black walnut.
| Consideration | Suggestion | Comments |
| Soil type | Well-drained loamy soils | Avoid acidic
clay subsoils |
| Soil depth | Greater than 3 feet | Avoid shallow, eroded, or fragipan soils |
| Aspect | North- or east-facing | Lower slopes, stream terraces, or coves |
| pH | 5 to 8 | Avoid acidic clay subsoils |
Think about possible future difficulties when choosing a black walnut site. For example, sites with acceptable soil and other growth requirements may be poor sites because of tree harvesting obstacles.
There may be no need for preparation of your chosen site. On the other hand, site preparation as intensive as land clearing with a bulldozer and spraying with herbicide may be required. You should ask yourself: How easy will the site be to plant? How will I control weeds?
The amount of site preparation necessary will be influenced by the planting method. Machine-planting of seedlings or hand-planting of either seeds or seedlings are the choices. Usually the amount of acreage to be planted is the controlling factor for choice of planting method. Should you decide to plant by machine, consider accessibility and obstacles that restrict planting machinery.
An important part of site preparation is weed control. Black walnut is a very intolerant species and does not compete well for moisture and nutrients. Competition from other trees or understory plants can reduce growth significantly or even result in plantation failure. Because trees are often planted on old row-crop land, the site will naturally have unwanted grasses and weeds. Both chemical and mechanical means are available for weed control. Use them independently or in combination to control most problem weeds. Chemical weed control is usually most effective. A combination of pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides is preferred. You probably already use the general- purpose herbicides needed to control weeds. For specific herbicide recommendations, contact your county forester or Extension agent.
Whether you decide to plant seedlings or seeds, know the source. They must be compatible with your planting region for the plantation to grow well. Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia have state-operated tree nurseries which sell seedlings to landowners. Some private nurseries have black walnut seedlings. Check stratification and germination before purchasing seeds. Help in identifying seed and seedling sources is available from your county forester or Extension agent.
Some genetically improved seed sources exist for black walnut seeds and seedlings. However, the price is usually high. Not enough data exists on black walnut to project additional profits from improved seed or seedlings, but other species have shown dramatic yield increases. Consider your objectives when deciding whether to use improved seed and carefully examine the claims of the supplier before using these sources.
Space the trees according to the products of the plantation. Wide initial spacing (18 by 18 feet or greater) with 134 or less trees per acre should be chosen if your main objective is nut production. Narrow initial spacing with more trees per acre should be chosen if your main objective is lumber and veneer production. If you plan to grow crops between trees during the first few years, spacing should be 40 by 10 feet to 40 by 20 feet. Be careful to avoid wasteful and costly overplanting.
How intensively you manage the black walnut plantation depends on your objectives, time available, resources, and plantation size. Unlike site selection, management of black walnut is flexible, and many methods are available for managing the stand. Only basic methods are covered here.
Thinning, pruning, and other cultural practices are affected by your choice of initial spacing. With wide spacing, thinning is not needed. On the other hand, close spacing may increase your costs unnecessarily by having to remove non-marketable trees. The need for pruning is also influenced by spacing. With fewer trees per acre, the trees are more "open grown" which results in large lower limbs that must be pruned if quality wood products are your objective. With more trees per acre, the need for pruning may be lessened by trees shading each other, which reduces the growth of lower branches. Also, mechanical weed control and fertilization are easier with a wider spacing.
If you produce both nuts and logs, you must trade off some nut production for lumber production. You'll do different production activities (silvicultural practices) for sawn products and veneer than you would if you were growing and managing the trees for nuts. Fertilization, pruning, thinning, and weed control and insect control will differ.
Regardless of your management objectives, always protect the trees. Young plantations should be protected from fire and grazing. Never allow wildfire in the plantation. When trees are larger, livestock may be allowed to graze under the tree canopy but only in limited numbers and for short periods of time.
Walnuts do not naturally prune after the canopy has closed and produced understory shade. You must prune the trees into the form necessary for optimum quality, growth, and production. Prune black walnut trees carefully. If you prune too much, growth will be slowed. If you don't prune enough, trees will be of lower grade. Pruning is a recurring labor-intensive management practice, and tree height makes the task more difficult and tedious. Try to prune trees so that the crown width will be AT LEAST one-half the total height of the tree and maintain at least the upper third of the stem supporting live branches.
Pruning is either corrective or side-bole. Corrective pruning consists of cutting back the top because of some tree deformation. It is not as common a practice as side-bole pruning, and its usefulness is debatable. An alternative to corrective pruning is to remove deformed trees at thinning time.
Side-bole or improvement pruning is removing lower branches in an effort to improve the main stem's quality. Side-bole pruning is necessary for intensively managed, high-quality black walnut stands. Although pruning is labor-intensive, it must be done for only plantation ages of 10 to 12 years.
The best time to prune is while the tree is dormant just before leaves emerge in early spring. You may prune in other seasons, but live branches SHOULD NOT be pruned when the tree is budding and new growth has started. Initial pruning should occur after the third year of establishment when the trees reach 10 feet in height. Trees that are 8 to 10 inches in DBH (diameter at breast height, usually 4-1/2 feet) should not be pruned. The likelihood of the pruning wounds not healing over with enough clear wood would be high.
Improvement pruning should clear at least 9 feet of the bole. However,for very straight, long trunks to be sold for high-value veneer, a profitable pruning can be carried out to 25 feet.
Thinning
Thinning reduces the stand so that growth is distributed to those trees you wish to keep for future products. Thinning should leave 25 to 30 trees per acre for nut production, and 75 to 100 trees per acre for lumber production. A thinning may be required two or more times during the life of the stand.
Avoid thinning before trees reach a size at which they can be marketed. Precommercial thinnings are expensive. Besides, competition encourages tree height. The main stem is shaded, which reduces side branching. Also, the loss of trees to uncontrollable conditions such as disease and insects has less impact. Plan thinnings or intermediate harvesting of marketable trees. Your stand of black walnut would be improved by harvesting inferior trees during thinning.
When the plantation age reaches 10 years or more, you may begin selection of better trees. If you decide to thin later, only trees less than 9 inches in DBH should be removed.
From crown to roots, the entire black walnut tree is susceptible to disease and insect damage which affects production and quality. Learn to recognize black walnut insects and diseases and the damage they produce. Some insects that attack the black walnut tree are the ambrosia beetle (stem), the curculios (nuts), the black walnut caterpillar (leaves), and the bud borers and casebearers (bud).
Fungi are responsible for most diseases of the black walnut. Walnut anthracnose and other leaf-spot diseases can affect both young or mature trees. Root rot mainly damages young seedlings, and cankers and decay affect older trees. Avoid diseases and insects by culling infected seedlings, maintaining stand vigor, and reducing tree stress.
Fertilization of black walnut plantations is most effective after the stand is well established. Fertilization may also be necessary in later years for good nut production or crown development. Pole-size trees which are 6 to 10 inches in DBH, and large trees growing on poorer quality sites are most responsive to fertilization. Nitrogen fertilizer encourages the most response in older trees. Be sure to have the soil tested before applying large doses of fertilizers. Contact your local forester or Extension agent for recommendations.
Water, nutrients, insects, and many other factors affect nut production. Typically, black walnut trees bear nuts no earlier than their twelfth year. Annual nut production increases as the crown widens and reaches its maximum at about 30 years. Annual nut production of each tree will fluctuate, but total production for a plantation is fairly consistent.
The exact time to harvest depends upon factors such as markets, weather, your tax status, and the needs for other enterprises. Harvest trees by clearcutting at ages 60 to 75, whether grown for timber only or for nuts and timber.
The following table presents a suggested calendar of black walnut silvicultural Activities.
| What | When |
| Sow seeds, plant seedlings | December to March |
| Plant root stocks | Early spring for at least the first 3 years |
| Fertilization | (1) After thinning of pole-size trees (2) In later years to improve nut production (optional) |
| Pruning | Late winter or early spring |
| Thinning | When competition reduces growth |
| Insect, disease protection | Depends on management objectives |
| Harvesting | Commercial tree harvest begins at age 25-30 Commercial nut harvest begins around age 20 |
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Black walnut production costs differ according to whether trees are grown solely for timber or for both nuts and timber. As explained in the production section, different objectives call for different site preparation, tree planting, and cultural practices. This section describes typical situations and gives average costs. For a more specific accounting of production costs, see the section, What Happened to JoAnn and the Widow Waylin.
Site Preparation
Site preparation may require discing and subsoiling costs ($30 per acre). Sowing and fertilizing a clover cover crop may also be necessary at a cost of about $41 per acre.
Tree Planting
Planting cost is a combination of both seedling cost and the cost of the planting operation. The cost of seedlings varies from state but averages about $150 per thousand trees. Planting operation costs average $37 an acre for 170 trees. Typically, some seedlings die during the first year. To determine replanting costs, multiply your initial planting costs by the proportion of dead seedlings that died. For example, if 10 percent of the seedlings died, replanting will cost an additional 3.70 per acre.
After planting, a broad-base herbicide should be applied for weed control at a cost of $15 per acre.
Pruning
Pruning is a necessity and requires the largest expenditure per acre. Corrective pruning generally costs about $21 per acre, while side-bole pruning costs about $1 per tree. Pruning costs will vary according to the number of trees need to be pruned and the age of the tree at the pruning. Older trees mean greater pruning cost per tree.
Other Production Costs
Fertilization costs include purchase and application of fertilizer. In general, these costs total around $30 per acre, assuming a complete fertilizer is broadcast throughout the stand.
Production costs can be reduced by using farm labor or equipment to carry out silvicultural operations. For those without necessary labor or equipment, these operations can be sub- contracted. Table 2 shows typical contractual fees and labor requirements for silvicultural practices.
| Management Practice | Labor | Equipment | Typical Contract Cost Per Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discing and subsoiling | 1.5 hr/acre | tractor, disc, subsoiler | $30 |
| Cover crop establishment | 1 hr/acre | tractor, seed and seeder, fertilizer and equipment | $41 |
| Tree planting | 10-20 hr/acre | dibble, spade, auger or other tool | $37 |
| Chemical weed control | 5-10 hr/acre | backpack sprayer and chemicals | $15 |
| Tree pruning | 10-15 hr/acre | pruning saw | $191 |
| Fertilization | 1-2 ac/hr | fertilizer and equipment | $30 |
Harvesting
Most farmers sell their trees "on the stump" to a logger or wood-buyer. The buyers will then harvest the trees at their own expense. On the other hand, the annual nut harvest is a job you can easily do yourself. One person can harvest about 100 pounds of nuts per hour. On a contract basis, harvesting typically costs about half the revenue received for the nuts.
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Black walnut is a high return per acre timber crop, but the market for black walnut logs is difficult to predict. States in the central United States have more developed markets. Black walnut trees are popular in that region, and timber owners have enjoyed very favorable markets.
A national market exists for the best veneer-quality trees. Black walnut sales in the southern states have been recorded at several sawmills but only as incidental logs. Prices vary widely, but trees can always be sold. In the southeastern United States, $200 per thousand board feet (MBF) is an average stumpage price for sawtimber. For veneer logs, $800 per MBF is not too much to expect. You may also receive income from commercial thinnings.
There is a strong market for black walnut in other countries. The majors buyers are Germany, South Korea, and Japan. These countries accounted for three-fourths of all walnut log exports in 1987. Such exports include most of the highest quality logs, as reflected by prices which average over $2,200 per MBF. The price paid per MBF for walnut is consistently higher than for any other hardwood export species. Prices are typically twice those paid for white oak, walnut's nearest competitor. Although it is the highest valued tree species, walnut's share of the total hardwood export market has decreased in both volume and value in the last decade.
Nuts sell for about $0.07 per pound. A national market exists for nuts, so the main marketing consideration is the cost of transportation to a collection center. If collection centers are not conveniently located, a market could be established if a consistently large supply of nuts is produced in an area.
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Deciding whether black walnut production is a good investment will require careful consideration of production costs, expected returns, and how much your time is worth. After all, trees take much longer to grow than traditional crops and your money will be invented for many years.
Returns must be discounted because a dollar to be received tomorrow is worth less than a dollar received today. Whether a bird in the hand today is worth two (or even three) in the bush tomorrow depends upon your time preference for money and your evaluation of risk. In investment analysis, you should choose the discount rate to reflect your preference for dollars today rather than dollars in the future. With an annual discount rate of 10 percent, you should be just as pleased to receive one dollar today as one dollar and ten cents next year.
Here are three measures to analyze an investment:
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JoAnn (Timber Only)
JoAnn is a young career woman who enjoys a challenge. She bought a choice piece of farmland outside of town (yet close to her office) where she intends to raise a family and a few head of cattle. Because she plans to keep working, planting a row crop is out of the question. With her background in business, however, JoAnn knows that a tree crop on otherwise unused land is often a good investment. She imagines a leisurely retirement watching the squirrels play under a canopy of black walnut and then cutting down the trees at a tidy profit. So JoAnn purchased black walnut seedlings to plant on her idle acreage, at a cost of $25.50 per acre.
Site preparation required discing and subsoiling, but JoAnn did not own the necessary equipment. She contracted this job for $30 per acre, and it took about an hour and a half per acre. She also hired someone to hand-plant the seedlings. At the planting density of 170 trees per acre (16 feet by 16 feet spacing), this cost $37 per acre. After the trees were planted, JoAnn had a broad-base herbicide applied at a cost of $15 an acre.
JoAnn was surprised when about 25 percent of the seedlings died during the first year. However, this mortality rate was typical for seedlings of any tree species. Replanting costs the next season were about $13 per acre. The broad-base herbicide was again applied during years two and three at a cost of $15 per acre.
A corrective pruning at age three was necessary for half the trees, at a cost of $21 per acre. JoAnn did side-bole pruning when the trees were eight years old and again when they 12 years old. The task was a simple one, requiring only a pruning saw. JoAnn estimated it took 10 to 15 hours to prune an acre of trees.
By doing the pruning herself, JoAnn saved about $170 an acre each time, or about $1 per tree.
A sawlog thinning was done at age 26. Half the trees were felled, leaving 85 trees per acre. The average diameter of the thinned trees was 9.7 inches. Using the Doyle method of estimating wood volume, total production from the thinning was 1,080 board feet per acre. To encourage growth after thinning, the remaining trees were fertilized at a cost of $30 per acre. It worked. Before thinning, the trees had grown in diameter on average of 0.26 inches a year. After the thinning, and fertilization, trees grew 0.40 inches in diameter per year.
The second thinning was for veneer and sawlogs at age 40. Half the trees were thinned, leaving 42 trees per acre. Harvested trees averaged 14.4 inches in diameter. Using the Doyle scale, the harvest yielded 2,060 board feet per acre for 16-foot veneer logs and 0.80 board feet per acre for sawlogs.
When the trees are 60 years old, JoAnn will have only harvest costs (and nursing-homes rates!) to think about. She can sell the standing trees to a sawmill through a consulting forester. The forester will charge a 5% commission to merchandize her trees and administer the harvest so that no site damage would occur.
The Widow Waylin (Timber and Nuts)
Not far from JoAnn's plantation, there lived the Widow Waylin. She was only 35 when her husband died in a tractor accident. Although she sold most of the farm after his death, she kept a few choice acres where she could plant black walnut trees. Widow Waylin was interested mainly in nut production because she had a ready market in town and because she anticipated baking a lot of cookies for her grandchildren.
Growing black walnut trees for their nuts required different silvicultural practices than growing them solely for timber, and so the Widow Waylin's costs were different than JoAnn's. The widow planted fewer trees per acre than her neighbor JoAnn --108 trees per acre at 20 feet by 20 feet spacing. Consequently, her seedlings cost $16 per acre. Her cost of planting the seedlings was about the same. The widow's site preparation was no different from JoAnn's. It included discing and subsoiling, a clover cover crop, fertilization, and weed control with a broad-base herbicide. Like JoAnn, the widow lost about 25 percent of her seedlings during the first year. She paid a replanting cost of $13 per acre.
At age 3, half the trees required a corrective pruning, which cost $21 per acre. She also paid $108 per acre for corrective lateral pruning at ages 8 and 12. She paid $30 per acre to have the trees fertilized after the first sawlog thinning at age 25. The second sawlog thinning was at age 34. The first nut harvest was at age 20 (age 55 for the widow) and increased each year with the diameter of the trees. She sold nuts for $0.07 per pound, but harvesting costs were about half the revenue.
Table 3 shows the nut yields during the life of the Widow Waylin's plantation. Tree thinnings at ages 25 and 34 are reflected in the table.
| Age | Yield (pounds) | Age | Yield (pounds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1073 | 36 | 1010 |
| 21 | 1260 | 37 | 1057 |
| 22 | 1446 | 38 | 1104 |
| 23 | 1446 | 39 | 1150 |
| 24 | 1446 | 40 | 1197 |
| 25 | 1446 | 41 | 1244 |
| 26 | 1088 | 42 | 1290 |
| 27 | 1182 | 43 | 1337 |
| 28 | 1275 | 44 | 1384 |
| 29 | 1368 | 45 | 1430 |
| 30 | 1461 | 46 | 1477 |
| 31 | 1555 | 47 | 1523 |
| 32 | 1648 | 48 | 1570 |
| 33 | 1741 | 49 | 1617 |
| 34 | 1834 | 50 | 1663 |
| 35 | 964 | 51-70 | 1710 |
Ages 20-25: 108 trees per acre.
Ages 36-34: 54 trees per acre.
Ages 35-70: 27 trees per acre.
The widow's trees were harvested for veneer at age 65, by the same grandchildren who had eaten her cookies. They sold slightly over 6,500 board feet per acre of veneer logs at a price of $0.80 per board foot.
Results of Financial Analysis
Tables 4 and 5 display financial measures to evaluate JoAnn's and the widow's investments. The analyses assume a 4 percent inflation rate over the 60 to 65 years of the stands and a marginal income tax rate of 28 percent. Results are displayed for after-tax nominal (undeflated) discount rates ranging from 6 to 14 percent.
| Discount Rate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6% | 8% | 10% | 12% | 14% | |
| Present Net Worth ($ per acre) | $1563 | $423 | $19 | -$125 | -$175 |
| Annual Equivalent
Value ($ per acre per year) | $97 | $34 | $2 | -$15 | -$24 |
| Internal Rate of Return | 10% | ||||
| Discount Rate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6% | 8% | 10% | 12% | 14% | |
| Present Net Worth ($ per acre) | $1278 | $337 | $24 | -$87 | -$128 |
| Annual Equivalent
Value ($ per acre per year) | $78 | $27 | $2 | -$10 | -$18 |
| Internal Rate of Return | 10% | ||||
The Internal Rate of Return generated by the two enterprises is 10 percent. This indicates that both projects can return some profit if the discount is 10 percent or higher.
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If a tree crop looks financially attractive, the choice between tree crops also depends on the farm's resource base. For example, a particular species may offer a relatively high return per acre but requires a sizeable amount of up-front investment capital to establish the stand. If investment capital is a major concern, then another tree crop such as white pine rather than black walnut may be the best alternative. White pine does not generate as high dollar return per acre. But it may well give a higher return on your investment capital than more highly valued trees.
Finally, risk should be considered. Numerous production problems such as weather, disease and insects can reduce the productivity of a stand. Also, costs vary widely. While trees are less risky than many agricultural crops, lost income can be considerable if a total disaster occurs. You may want to work through a few examples yourself, varying price and production levels, to get a feel for the risk inherent in the tree crop.
Use Table 6 for information regarding the many factors that should be considered in the decision to grow a particular tree crop.
| Factor | Information Source |
| Geographic range of the tree crop | County Forester |
| Suitability of site for tree crop | County Forester |
| Local market conditions | County Forester, Extension Agent |
| Initial investment cost | County Forester, Extension Agent |
| Time and effort required to grow the crop | County Forester, Extension Agent |
| Soil conservation, wildlife, and other benefits desired | County Conservationist, Extension Agent |
| Insect and disease problems | County Forester, Extension Agent |
| Cost-share programs | County Forester, ASCS Office |
| Harvesting and marketing | Private forestry consultants |
Once you have decided which tree crops to consider, you need to come up with the necessary data to conduct your financial analysis. Your local Cooperative Extension agent or farm management agent will be able to help.
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Cost-share funds simply reduce your cost of forestry activities. For example, a 50 percent cost-share on seedlings and tree planting may reduce the cost from $60 per acre to $30 per acre. Direct payments from programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program provide income in early years before timber revenue begins.
A word of caution--you cannot expect to receive federal funds from two different programs for the same activity. There are some state programs which also provide assistance for farmers and woodland owners. Your local county forester is the best source of advice on state programs.
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Trees also prevent soil erosion. Eliminating soil loss enhances land productivity and water quality. By stopping sediment from entering the streams, your water resources will be cleaner and therefore more suitable for fish and other aquatic species. Finally, tree crops screen the air and serve as a noise barrier. Again, proper design can maximize these benefits from your tree crop.
Moreover, most people enjoy the natural beauty only a tree and forest can provide. The Chinese say, "Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come."
Plant a tree crop today -- and enjoy the many benefits for years to come.
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| Item | Assumptions |
| Site index | 75 feet at age 50 |
| Average growth rate | 0.4 inches in diameter/year |
| Site preparation | discing and subsoiling $30/acre |
| Planting intensity | 16 ft by 16 ft spacing |
| Seedling price | $150/thousand seedlings |
| Planting cost | $36.90/acre |
| Mortality | 25% |
| Weed control | $15/acre for years 1-3 |
| Corrective pruning | $21.25/acre at age 3 |
| Lateral pruning | $170/acre at years 8 and 12 |
| Fertilization | $30/acre at age 26 |
| Age at final harvest | 60 years |
| Sale price | $0.20/board foot for sawtimber $0.80/board foot for veneer timber |
| Yield: thinning | 1st thin: 1.08 MBF (Doyle) sawlogs 2nd thin: 2.06 MBF (Doyle) veneer logs 0.80 MBF (Doyle) sawlogs |
| Yield: final harvest | 6.47 MBF (Doyle) veneer logs 4.11 MBF (Doyle) sawlogs |
| Harvest expense | 5% of final harvest revenue |
| Marginal income tax rate | 28% |
| Inflation rate | 4$/year |
| Tax treatment | Reforestation credits for planting, all else ordinary income/ expenses |
| Item | Assumptions |
| Site index | 75 feet at age 50 |
| Average growth rate | 0.4 inches in diameter/year |
| Site preparation | discing and subsoiling $30/acre |
| Planting density | 20 ft by 20 ft spacing |
| Seedling price | $150/thousand seedlings |
| Planting cost | $36.90/acre |
| Mortality | 25% |
| Weed control | $15/acre for years 1-3 |
| Corrective pruning | $13.50/acre at age 3 |
| Lateral pruning | $108/acre at years 8 and 12 |
| Fertilization | $30/acre at age 25 |
| Age at final harvest | 65 years |
| Sale price | $.07/pound for nuts $0.20/board foot for sawtimber $0.80/board foot for veneer timber |
| Yield: thinning | 1st thin: .74 MBF (Doyle) sawlogs 2nd thin: 1.34 MBF (Doyle) veneer logs 0.80 MBF (Doyle) sawlogs |
| Yield: final harvest | 6.5 MBF (Doyle) veneer |
| Harvest expense | 5% of final harvest revenue |
| Marginal income tax rate | 28% |
| Inflation rate | 4$/year |
| Tax treatment | Reforestation credits for planting, all else ordinary income/ expenses |
Growth and Financial measures were estimated with YIELDplus 2.1, a microcomputer-based timber yield foresting and planning tool developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority. For further information, call (615)494-9800, or write to:
Todd Hepp
Forest Resources Development Program
Tennessee Valley Authority
Norris, TN 37828
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Ponder, F. 1988. Choosing a good walnut site. In: Walnut Notes. E.L. Bunde (editor). USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station Pub. pp. 2.01-2.02.
Schlesinger, R.C. and D.T. Funk. Manager's Handbook for Black Walnut. USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN. General Technical Report NC-38. 22pp.
Van Sambeck, J.W. 1988. Nut production. In: Walnut Notes. E.L. Bunde (editor). USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station Publication. pp. 4.01-4.02.
Von Althen, F.W. 1991. Afforestation of former farmland with high-value hardwoods. Forestry Chronicle 67:204-212.
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