Tree farm

 I need some advice on starting a tree farm. I am in the preliminary
process of putting together a plan but need a little more information
to get it together. I am in MN, northern suburb of the twin cities and
I have a lake place in central minnesota. I have been successful
planting trees on my lake lot and have always dreamed of a tree farm
and the thought of it being a business even sounds better. I know of
two pepole with farms...one x-mas tree and one for replanting.
neither are very successful but the replanting farmer has an in because
he also takes trees down, so he just sells them a new one. I know the
return would be years  from now but the investment in land here would
be good and with the proper care of a farm could produce future
returns. I am in the position to purchase land...not 500 acres! maybe
10. and maybe more in the future. I travel to central Mn alot where it
would be more affordable, there may be a small market for the trees
there. Any thoughts, tips or advice are welcome.
thank you
Chris
Future tree farmer Mn.

 chris wrote:

It strikes me you have a rather vague idea of what a "tree farmer" does.
I can't tell from your comments whether you want to start a tree
nursery, or plant a woodlot. The former means growing trees for resale,
the latter means growing trees for lumber. Here are just a few facts
that may help guide you thinking. HTH

a) Christmas trees take 5 to 20 years to grow to saleable size, or so
I've been told, and must be trimmed and shaped at least once every year.
Most are sold at 8 to 12 years of age. You may have to fertilise and
water them, too. And you have to replant every year, to ensure a
continuing crop once you start harvesting. From what I've heard a
successful Christmas tree farm operator say, you need to sell a minimum
of several hundred trees per season to make a reasonable return on your
time and money. And you need to think in terms of 1,000 trees per year
or more if you want to make a reasonable living.

b) Hardwoods (oak, maple, walnut, etc) need 40 years and more to grow
big enough to saw for lumber.

c) Nursery grown trees are saleable at ages 5 to 10 years. Younger trees
may not have proven themselves hardy enough, older trees may be too big.
They also need to be pruned to a pleasing shape, etc.

d) If you want to grow fruit or ornamental trees for resale, you will
also need to learn grafting, pest control, etc.

IMO, you will have to have a day job for quite a while before you can
make a living from a tree farm. But good luck and best wishes!

 On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 19:32:59 -0800, chris wrote:


Good day Chris. Sounds like you got big plans there, good for you.
I would recommend that you call your local ag rep. Here's a list for you:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC8125.html

I'm sure that there is some sort of tree farm program in your state. I
would also recommend that you look for tree farm organizations such as the
American Tree Farm System:

http://www.treefarmsystem.org/index.cfm

Last resort, google tree farming and see what turns up.

--
http://resources.ywgc.com/info/

 

Chris, Tim gave you very a very good reply.  I have owned 3 tree farms
and made more money on the land than on the trees.

My first planting was a new wood lot in Pennsylvania on farmland behind
our home. A state forester told me what tree varieties to plant, a paper
pulp company gave me the trees and a federal forestation plan paid me to
plant them.  The first thing I learned here was to carry the trees
around in a bucket of muddy water when planting.  If the roots dry out
the tree is dead.  The trees come bare root packed in sphagnum moss.  
You take out as many as you can plant in a reasonable amount of time.  I
planted about 50 per hour with a hazel hoe in very rocky soil.  I had to
dig two holes for each tree; one for the tree and one to get soil to
fill up the first one.  The plan was to plant the trees every 8 foot and
then after 20 years sell 3/4 of the trees for paper pulp so they would
then be on a 16 foot spacing, suitable for timber production.  The trees
are pine, spruce and larch.  The trees all did well, but I never opened
the forest up to logging.  It is now 40 years later and they could be
harvested, but we want a forest.  This forest surrounds our home with
the pine and spruce closest to give a green background all year long.  
It will not be cut.

My second plantation was a Christmas tree farm.  I cleared the land and
then planted various types of fir on 6 foot centers.  The fir were very
slow to develop, but produced beautiful trees.  I had to clear the field
of weeds and grass every year.  I used a garden tractor mower and a weed
eater.  I also had to prune the trees every fall.  The state inspected
the trees every year for disease.  I became a certified pesticide
applicator.  I ran a choose and cut operation.  It was not a big money
maker but was a fun business.  I did everything on weekends before
hunting season started. (not because I hunted, but because I didn't want
to get shot) The return on labor was very small, but it was good healthy
work.  After taking almost 15 years to get established, I got about 15
years of sustained production.  The Christmas trees were eventually
destroyed about 10 years ago by deer during a couple winters with heavy
snow.  They either killed them by either eating them or with buck-rubs.  
I didn't have the time or desire to start over so I am not in the
Christmas tree business any more.

My third tree farm was a wood lot in Maine.  It had two creeks and
highway frontage.  It had been harvested in the past.  It was replanted
and was reestablishing itself.  After thirty years we hired a forester
to mark a timber improvement project to basically cut about 3/4 of the
trees to permit a much better forest to develop.  We found a logger that
agreed to carry out our plan. The logger did a great job until the job
was almost finished.  Then the logger came in with a crew and stripped
the land of just about everything he could sell.  The forester  matched
the stumps with the logs at the mills so we had a good record of how
much timber he had rustled.  However the timber rustling laws in Maine
have no teeth. The guy was ordered to make restitution but has only paid
about 25% of what he owed and has quit paying since he knows nothing is
going to happen to him.  That money went to pay the forester and the
attorney.  I can't even make a tax deduction for the loss since I would
have to give my SS# to him on a 1099 and I refuse to give the crook such
information.  The forester has quit working with outside loggers and
only manages what he can handle himself.  The timber rustling didn't
hurt the price of the land since we sold it for better than market
price, an increase of over 10 times what we paid for it.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to rhodyman@earthlink.net
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

 Stephen Henning wrote:


  wow! what a great read - thanx for sharing!

Carl


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