Conservation Stewardship Program

stelprdb1242924The Conservation Stewardship Program helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns.  Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance – the higher the performance, the higher the payment.

Benefits

Through CSP, participants take additional steps to improve resource condition including soil quality,  water quality, water quantity, air quality, and habitat quality, as well as energy.

CSP provides two types of payments through five-year contracts: annual payments for installing new conservation activities and maintaining existing practices; and supplemental payments for adopting a resource-conserving crop rotation. Producers may be able to renew a contract if they have successfully fulfilled the initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives. Payments are made soon as practical after October 1 of each fiscal year for contract activities installed and maintained in the previous year.

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Longleaf Pine Initiative in Mississippii NRCS

nrcs142p2_016682At the beginning of the 17th century, an estimated 90 million acres of longleaf pine forests existed across the Southeast. But, however, only 3.4 million acres remain. Deforestation and urbanization have threatened this ecosystem, which is home to 100 bird species, 36 mammal species and 72 species of reptiles and amphibians. As these forests have declined, they have placed many of this wildlife in precarious positions, including many of them being classified as endangered or threatened species.

Through its conservation efforts, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is focusing its efforts to help forest landowners more effectively conserve the longleaf pine ecosystem. The Longleaf Pine Initiative (LLPI) uses several NRCS programs to address the priority resources concerns of the longleaf pine ecosystem. These programs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Healthy Forests Reserve Program(HFRP).

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City of Louisville, Winston Plywood & Veneer break ground on new mill in Mississippi

WinstonLouisville, MS ( February 2 , 2015) — The City of Louisville, in cooperation with the State of Mississippi, Winston Plywood & Veneer and its parent company, Atlas Holdings LLC, broke ground Friday on a new, state-of-the-art plywood mill that will help revitalize a community devastated by a tornado just nine months earlier. The original mill, built in the 1960s and idled since 2009, was destroyed on April 28, 2014 when an F4 tornado struck Louisville. Speakers at the ground-breaking ceremony included Louisville Mayor Will Hill, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority Brent Christensen, several local officials and executives from Atlas Holdings and Winston Plywood & Veneer.

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Biewer Lumber Locating Sawmill Operations in Newton, Mississippi

biewerJackson, Mississippi — December 14, 2015 — Officials from Biewer Lumber announce the company is locating a state-of-the-art sawmill in Newton, Mississippi. The project represents a corporate investment of $85 million and will create 125 jobs.

Construction of the new sawmill is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2016, with mill production expected to begin in early 2017. Once operational, the new facility will expand the company’s mill production into the South; Biewer currently operates four Midwest-based sawmills, as well as three treatment/distribution centers.

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How Big Should I Let My Trees Grow?

Sawtimber vs. Chip-n-Saw

“How big should I let my trees grow?” “Should I let my trees grow for a longer period of time, so I can get a big price?” “How long will it take them to reach sawtimber size?” “Will the market for sawtimber be strong when I am ready to sell?” These questions continue to vex timber land owners.

For the past 11 years, we at Forest2Market have been helping landowners answer these tough questions.  Over the first 7 of these years, it was a sure bet that if you let your trees grow into sawtimber, you would receive a higher price for them.  Furthermore, if you let them grow into large sawtimber, you would receive an even higher price.  In fact, to help landowners understand this relationship, we started measuring price in pounds per linear foot (PLF).  Pounds per linear foot is exactly what it sounds like.  It is a measure of how many pounds there are in one foot of tree.  So, a big tree with a large diameter will have more pounds per foot than a skinny tree.  Since a sawmill can cut a wide board (2 x 12) from a big tree, these big trees traditionally commanded larger prices than say, trees from which they could cut just a 2 x 4.  From 2000-2007, the market data clearly suggested that larger trees (i.e. sawtimber) commanded a highter price per PLF than smaller trees such as chip-n-saw.  As a result, it was easy to advise landowners to grow big trees that commanded both a higher price per ton, but also a higher price per PLF.  In 2008, however, the tried and true relationship between the size of the tree and price per PLF started to change.  Using the relative measure of PLF, the data now shows that small saw-timber trees (chip-n-saw) are commanding a premium over large sawtimber trees.

In 2004 (the good old days when timber prices were high), the price per PLF (again, a relative measure) for chip-n-saw was 1.6% below that of sawtimber.  This meant that landowners received a premium (on an equivalent basis) for growing larger sawtimber trees.  There was a clear financial disincentive to grow smaller chip-n-saw trees.  If we take data for 2011, this treend has reversed quite radically.  For example, the current data says smaller chip-n-saw trees command an 8% premium over larger sawtimber trees.  Could this just be a function of the depressed sawtimber markets due to the poor economy and deplorable housing start numbers?  Maybe, but consider the following factors.

  • Over the last decade, most of the southern plywood plants have closed.  This is a structural change in the market, not a short term trend.
  • All the technology in the lumber and building products manufacturing is geared toward using smaller trees.  Again, the growth in the OSB, MDF, LVL and oriented strand lumber markets is a structural change, not short-term
  • Third, the new demand for woodfiber is coming from wood pellet manufacturers and utilities.  in both cases, they are using small trees (or even a low grade product).
  • Recent reports from Forest2Market’s Mill2Market Lumber Pricing Service showed that 2x4s sold for MORE than 2x12s.  So, sawmills are getting paid more to cut 2x4s than they are for a “premium” 2×12.  And since 2x4s can be cut from small chip-n-saw logs, sawmills have no incentive to buy or pay a premium for large logs.

Is this a permanent trend or just an aberration due to current market conditions?  I am not entirely sure, but the evidence suggests there are many reasons why landoweners should take another look at their timber holding periods in light of the structural changes happening in the market.

Article excerpt www.forest2market.com