Pine Management
There Could Be a "Pot of Gold" on Your Land
Thinning Young Pine Plantations
Thinning of young pine plantations is the single most important management activity a forest landowner can do to his plantation. The goal of thinning is not to maximize current income from low value pulpwood, but rather to prepare it for producing higher value sawlogs in the future. Thinning must be done at the proper time and in the proper way in order to maximize both future value and health of the plantation. Below are some links from Mississippi State University and N.C. State University concerning pine thinning. If you have more questions, feel free to contact Dr. Andy Londo, Extension Silviculture Specialist.
Are My Pine Trees Ready to Thin?
Prescribed Burning
When Will a Prescribed Burn Help My Pine Stand?
Fertilization
Forest fertilization is a relatively easy way for landowners to boost productivity of their forestland. However, not all land needs to be fertilized. Determining if you need to fertilize, when and how much to use are important questions which need to be answered before fertilizing your forestland.
Growth and Yield
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Choosing, cutting, and bringing home a real Christmas tree is a fun tradition for many families during the holiday season. Around 32,000 Christmas trees are sold in Mississippi each year! Whether you go to a Christmas tree farm or to a local retail store, you’ll likely be presented with a few options to choose from.
With rising prices everywhere, families may expect to pay more for their choose-and-cut Christmas trees this year. But that may not be the case. Mississippi Christmas tree growers faced some challenges in 2021 with weather conditions and price hikes for many of their inputs. However, many growers may decide not to pass those costs on to consumers of their choose-and-cut Christmas trees.
Curtis VanderSchaaf joined the Mississippi State University Extension Service in the southwest region as a forestry specialist with regional and statewide duties. He also is a faculty member in the MSU Department of Forestry.
If you celebrate with a real tree, you’ll have to decide how to dispose of it once the holiday is over. You have some good options for recycling the tree instead of sending it to the landfill.
CHUNKY, Miss. -- The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted countless traditions in 2020, but it will not keep living rooms across Mississippi from featuring Christmas decor, nor will it deter customer demand for fresh trees.
In fact, business is booming at farms that have opened for the season, said Southern Christmas Tree Association President Michael May.
Success Stories
Drew Sullivan admits his first timber tract would not have fetched an appraiser’s attention, but he usually drove back home from a lumber yard in Kemper County each week with around $150 in his pocket— not bad for a 15-year-old Mississippi boy growing up in the mid-90s.
During his tenure as an engineer at Boeing, Ottis Bullock helped build machines that went into the air and to the moon, but he always had an interest in the trees that grew from the ground where he came of age.
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