STUMPAGE PRICES ON YOUR TRACT
For five decades now, we've emphasized that stumpage prices on a given tract depend upon many factors:
tree species and age, quality, size of tree (many trees contain both sawtimber and pulpwood), volume
per tree, volume per acre, logging conditions, market conditions in the locality, accessibility, time
allowed for logging, and timber ownership and product prices of buyers within a 75-100-mile road distance
from the tract. For a superb explanation of this situation in an interview of two experienced
timber buyers, click on www.vardaman.com/greensheets/int11a87.php
Since each variable can have a significant effect on total consideration in a sale, average prices
for a state or even a county are virtually meaningless. They mean no more for the price of stumpage on
your tract than the level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average means for the price of each of the thousands
of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Therefore, we discontinued publishing our price graph
years ago and have now removed stumpage-price reports
from www.vardaman.com.
You can get a reasonably accurate estimate of them on your tract only from an examination by a
qualified forester. He must visit the tract and measure a small sample of the trees. The only way to know
for sure what your timber is worth is a sealed-bid, lump-sum, widely-advertised sale for which you provided
data required to answer many of the questions in the opening paragraph. Information of this kind costs money,
and we believe that our virtual-forestry organization can provide it for the least cost. This is because we
have working relationships with 125 foresters, several of whom probably live near your tract, and we can
advertise your sale at rock-bottom cost.
Three articles, outstanding because they draw on the expertise of international experts, and their date
of publication still remain in this section: "The Price Of Timber, Where It Has Been," "What's
An Investor To Do When The Pine Sawlog Stumpage Market Goes Wild?" and "Will Timber Prices Rise,
Fall, Or Stay The Same?"They cover very important and timeless questions for timberland investors, and
dates of the articles demonstrate how hard it is to predict the future.
If your interest is merely in average stumpage prices in SE U.S., however, you should log on
"Google" and search for "timber prices." You'll be covered up with accurate data from
several qualified agencies without spending a penny or leaving your computer.
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