From Fayetteville Online, by Venita Jenkins
LUMBERTON, North Carolina - Mike Davis said he hadn't considered harvesting pine needles as a source of income, but a fellow farmer convinced him that he could make money.
"I was told it would be pretty good income from farming, and it has been,'' he said. "Better than soybeans.''
Davis had grown tobacco, corn and soybeans on his farm in the Barnesville community since 1958. He retired last year. Now he focuses on harvesting pine needles.
Thirty-two years ago, Davis planted trees on 27 acres near Orrum. He said people told him that he wouldn't make money because it took too long for the trees to mature.
Early on, Davis earned money by selling some of the trees that he thinned.
"I had a lot of woodland that was not in production,'' he said.
For the past three years, Davis has earned most of his income from collecting pine needles from his longleaf pines. He sells the needles to residents and people who do yard work.
He has 20 acres in production and recently planted 45 acres. Davis earns about $400 an acre.
"I have had two heart attacks and have diabetes,'' he said. "This is just a little income that comes in.''
A small percentage of farmers take advantage of the potential income that could be earned from their woodlands, said Everett Davis, director of the Robeson County Cooperative Extension Office. Many fail to properly manage their property for greater returns, he said.
"Most landowners sell timber once in their lifetime,'' he said. "They have little knowledge about what to do to sell timber, and they are sometimes taken advantage of by timber buyers. There is potential for greater returns by putting a little more management to it and knowing what to do.''
More than $26.1 million worth of timber was sold in Robeson County in 2003. Figures for 2004 are not available, Everett Davis said.
Kenny Biggs, who owns KM Biggs Inc., is among the few landowners who have seen large returns. The company owns 7,500 acres of pines and hardwood. The timber could bring $1,500 to $7,000 an acre depending on the market and the quality of the timber.
The key is management, which includes thinning, controlled burns and reforestation, Biggs said. Reforestation is the process of growing trees on an area that has been harvested or cleared.
How it's done
There are two basic methods of reforestation: natural regeneration and planting seedlings.
"For the last 15 years we have really tried to do a better job of reforestation,'' he said. "Hopefully, we can get into a rotation where we can start cutting timber every year.''
Biggs also uses the Robeson County Forest Service.
"It is important to get somebody who knows what they are doing. We deal closely with the forestry service. They can provide a lot of information, and there are various consultants around that can help. I recommend getting a consultant and let them put the timber out to bid. Not only that, the consultant can make sure the timber is cut the right way and the site is prepped correctly,'' Biggs said.
The Robeson County Cooperative Extension Office is sponsoring two sessions on forestry Tuesday at the O.P. Owens Agriculture Center. The first session, which begins at 10 a.m., is for women landowners interested in managing their forestland and how to sell their timber when it matures.
The second session, called "Money Does Grow on Trees,'' begins at 2 p.m. The three-hour session will look at how to better manage timber on farms, how to better market timber and alternative income opportunities for forestland. It will also address tax issues.
The sessions are free.
"Research shows if forest land is properly managed, landowners will see a 28 percent higher return on their timber, and the land will be 120 percent more productive for future crops,'' said Rick Hamilton, the forestry department extension leader at North Carolina State University. Hamilton will be one of the speakers Tuesday.
"This is not rocket science,'' he said. "We want to alert folks about where they need to go and where they can get assistance and answers. The bottom line is, better forest management increases production and increases your financial return. Timber is an increasingly valuable asset. Most people do not manage it like they would business assets.''
