This column serves as a special invitation to you to attend a Forestry Management Meeting next week at the Robeson County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. This meeting is designed for the many landowners in the county who have timberlands on their farms but do not have a lot of experience or knowledge about managing those timberlands for profit.

As I have mentioned in this column many times in the past, timber is the least managed crop in the county. There is more potential for increased income and profits from the proper management of timber than for any other crop normally grown in the county. Better timber management can provide an opportunity for many landowners to generate alternative income from their farm without making drastic changes, investing large amounts of money, or assuming great risks.

Of the more than 600,000 acres of land in Robeson County, almost 340,000 of these acres are in trees. Of course, almost one-third of this forestland is low-quality hardwoods in the swamplands along the Lumber River, the Big Swamp, and the major swamps that drain the county. But approximately 240,000 acres of forestlands, most of it on the many farms that are used for crop production, are either high-quality timber or can easily be managed to produce high-quality timber.

Most people do not realize it, but timber is the second largest cash crop in the county behind tobacco. Each year more than $24 million worth of timber is sold from the farms in the county. Although some of this land is owned and managed by the large timber companies, approximately 70 percent of this land is owned and managed by private landowners just like you. Few people realize that a good stand of timber can be worth $3,000 or more per acre, so even small tracts of properly managed timber can provide significant income for a farm.

Each year I receive many phone calls from landowners about what they need to do to sell some of the timber on their farms or what do they need to do to reforest or better manage the timberlands on their farms. Many of these calls are from landowners who do not even live on the farms they own. It is surprising the number of questions from widows who have inherited farmlands containing forestlands, and they have very little knowledge of what to do or how to do it.

This meeting will be held Wednesday, January 21, at the O. P. Owens Agriculture Center in Lumberton. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. and last until about noon. Light refreshments will be provided.

This meeting will feature some of the leading forest management Extension specialists in the state. Dr. Dennis Hazel will discuss forest health. He will provide detailed information about what needs to be done to establish productive timberlands and what needs to be done to manage these forest for profitability. Dr. Bob Bardon will discuss the many government programs that provide cost-share assistance for establishing forestlands and for managing those forest with the least impact on our environment.

Dr. Rick Hamilton will discuss timber marketing and tax implications related to managing and selling timber. His discussion will provide detailed information about what to do before you sell and how to make sure you receive the best price possible for your timber. Steve Whitfield, Executive Director of the North Carolina Forest Landowners Association, will discuss the services and advantages provided by this association to forest owners across the state.

If you own any timberland at all, I encourage you to make plans to attend this very informative meeting. Many people have an opportunity to sell timber from their farm only once or twice in their lifetime. Because of this they never have an opportunity to learn by experience what to do and how to do it. With few exceptions, most people that do have an opportunity to sell timber from their farm wish they had done things differently and that they had made an effort to learn more about timber management and timber marketing.

There is no charge for this meeting, but I would like to ask that you call my office at 910-671-3276 to let me know you are coming so proper seating arrangements can be made. In addition, many newly released publications for forest owners will be available and your preregistration will allow us to make sure we have enough copies for everyone.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 2/3/04