Strong As An Oak

After a long period of depressed prices - the markets have come back strong and appear to be holding.
We have one client that we did a timber harvest for back in 2011. At that time we conducted strictly an improvement harvest. The woodlot is an Oak/Pine/Hemlock forest type. We took out most of the pulp grade hardwood, 70% of the hemlock and 35% of the Pine saw timber. Outside of the red maple, we left 95% of the hardwood  saw timber trees standing. Despite an average diameter of 20" - 22" in the Oaks,  it didn't make much sense to conduct a harvest when the prices delivered to the mills were only averaging $ 350.00  p/mbf.  To do so would have been a financially irresponsible act against our client - which is not what we are about. So we waited. And all parties are glad we did. This summer we marked a sale where we focused only on the Oaks in the 20" DBH + range. The total volume came to just under 100,000 mbf. of hardwood saw timber, of which the bulk was Red & White Oak. We then put the volume out for competitive bid. When the bids came in,  the winner paid over $46,000.  Two years earlier , for the same volume, we would have been lucky to have gotten $ 12,000.  Patience paid off with a much higher return for our client .
If you've been waiting to sell your timber - wait no longer. The high prices are not just specific to Oak saw timber - they can be found in all products and species. How long will they last ? That remains to be seen. All we know is that now is as good a time as any to harvest your timber. So give us a call - "The Timber Sale Specialists" here at Stillwater Forestry LLC will put their expertise to work for you.