Despite a slow housing market and other lingering effects of the recession, Mississippi’s forests remain the state’s second most valuable agricultural commodity for 2017.
John Auel, an assistant Extension professor of forestry at Mississippi State University, estimates the value of forest products is $1.4 billion, which is a decrease of 8.6 percent from 2016. However, 2017 numbers are almost 40 percent higher than they were in 2009, when the industry experienced its lowest valued harvest of the 2007-2009 recession. “All timber categories, except oak sawtimber, have seen a decrease in price. That could be due to wet weather in late spring and early summer,” Auel said.
Oak sawtimber remained steady with a 0.3 percent increase over 2016 prices, and it sold for $433 per thousand board feet. Pine sawtimber experienced a decrease of 2.3 percent, averaging about $182 per thousand board feet. Mixed hardwood sawtimber declined by 5.4 percent, averaging about $344 per thousand board feet. Pulpwood categories were the hardest hit, with pine pulpwood falling 15.4 percent to $17.75 per cord and hardwood pulpwood falling by 24.3 percent to $19.50 per cord. These figures are estimates. More complete data will be available in February.
Randy Rousseau, an MSU Extension and research professor, said the condition of the industry depends on which area of the state landowners occupy. While the entire state has a surplus of timber, markets vary north and south of Interstate 20. “The biggest issue in the northern part of the state is there are no mills to process pulpwood because the demand has dried up,” Rousseau said. “There is a one-year wait for pine producers to get their stands thinned. These are trees that were planted 12 to 17 years ago and now have 700 trees per acre, which is way too many. But the pulpwood market where these trees would go has gone away to a great extent.”
Overseas markets for biomass pellets are strong and provide a decent outlet for producers in the southern portion of the state. The hardwood market in south Mississippi also is pretty good because of the demand for quality hardwood lumber, Rousseau said.
From The Meridian Star: https://www.meridianstar.com/news/local_news/forestry-remains-steady-despite-challenges/article_be12079a-5430-5bf6-a4d6-e3abe1b60b6a.html