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WALNUT SALES- Best article (Iowa based) ive ever seen....

Sligh1

Sligh1

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This article been around for a while & I think we posted here long ago. Tons of guys I know looking to do walnut sales over next year. Iowa to IL to WI to MI. Lots of complex things to consider & understanding who and why “xyz person” is telling u to sell is very important (MOST everyone has $ motives). Imo - you MUST have third party help bid it that has conservation in his/her blood!! It’s critical!!!!
Best article to start with and reference later. Excellent & makes great Simple sense of financial analysis anyone can understand. Done by then (retired) Iowa forester Gary Beyer. Excellent!!!! When to sell, why, how, etc. Get ur Forester out there!!!!
READ!....

http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/forestry/walnut_economics.pdf
 
White oak & cherry - I don't think I've ever seen those markets "bad". Cherry - I'm too far south for BUT as you go further N, that market is great as usual. The only other "hot" market that comes to mind.... SOFT MAPLE! That is a roller coaster market.... Used in some furniture for example.... so, economy strong, people buying furniture, serious $. Economy down & slow, HUGE swing down in value. Soft maple grows FAST as well.
Veneer Walnuts & White oaks are ALWAYS going to be the premier. Veneer Walnuts - it's just the cream of the crop IF a guy let's em get big enough and really does in fact have veneer (let's say 10% to MAYBE 20% of a stand being veneer. 20%, if it's been managed for years- be my guess). Big giant defect free veneers in large # are rare & need a lot of analysis & help on deciding. White oaks - though not worth as much as walnuts - those are trees that grow SLOW, fantastic for the forest/wildlife & been there for a long long time so take them carefully & get some real wisdom on a timber sale there.
 
You would think Ash would eventually be valuable? If the ash borer wipes em out, might take years, but milled ash is really nice, and might tick up in value some day. Only problem is sitting on it that long, taking up space.
 
Hardwood11 said:
You would think Ash would eventually be valuable? If the ash borer wipes em out, might take years, but milled ash is really nice, and might tick up in value some day. Only problem is sitting on it that long, taking up space.
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Ha - I thought along those lines before. I suspect it could have some merit & obviously will if demand over reaches the lessening supply. An example somewhat similar to this would be ELM. Been dying off for years but the market has still simply favored walnut, oak, etc. I’d gladly sell any ash or elm i could!
Support oaks & walnut growth & management. You cannot go wrong doing this. Wildlife & ecosystem benefits to oaks vastly destroy the value of ash & others. It’s a relief to hear “emerald ash borer” vs “emerald walnut or oak borer”. They will have their own issues but thank goodness it’s not horrible like EAB or Dutch elms disease.
 
Speaking of walnuts.... what is the smallest size tree that could be sold ya think? There is a right- of-way I know of that is going to get destroyed /cleaned up and has lots of walnut but they are not very big. My friend is doing the dozer work and said I could have any of the wood I wanted. Wondering if it is worth my time....
 
I don’t “think” most guys will mess with anything less than maybe 15-18 range. That’s bare bones smallest I’ve seen cut. Well- maybe I’ve seen some instances where crew was out cutting bigger stuff & just took every little tree possible too. But- do the math- on board feet - it just makes no sense to mess with em unless u there anyways. If they are gonna get pummeled no matter what- see if u could get 4-5 guys to actually give u a bid on it - likely fairly local guys. If there’s a TON of trees that r small- that would help a lot obviously due to volume.
 
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I know Elm is popular wood up here in MN. I doubt it commands much from loggers, but some love the red elm color for house projects. If anyone has ever seen black ash (wow) it is amazing looking wood, for a man cave, interior siding. Lots of N Minnesotans use it for cabins.
 
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Ya- it’s mind boggling to see some incredibly gorgeous woods out there- like above pic!!! & say “gorgeous but no one will pay me squat to buy em”. Go look at “hickory” wood work like floors or cabinets... looks great. Not cheap as usual. Then go try and sell the trees for good $. I spose it can be done but I haven’t found any big $ buyers. Could be our Midwest variety. Lot of trees like that.
 
Hickory cabinets and flooring command a premium when building a home/cabin.

Like you say Skip it doesn’t add up from the loggers.
 
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Is thousand cankers disease, caused by the walnut twig beetle, not considered a serious threat on the long term horizon? I think there's been state quarantines, just like there was for ash before it became a moot point.
 
I don’t think it’s this Far East??? Think it’s out west. Unfortunately- things can change & change fast so maybe I’m wrong. I don’t think it’s as deadly as emerald ash borer either. For sure not good & likely a problem Down the road.
 
Any advice on what a walnut lumber tree (say 18-20) inch "should" be worth (not veneer) in todays market....thanks
 
Just a 1 tree sale? Delivered to a mill? Or come and cut? Probably be lucky if you got $100 depending on how good it is. If you're talking a decent number of trees, then it all depends. Remember that MObuckchaser from the other forums? There was a thread couple years ago and he said that hedge was in super high demand and selling for premiums.
 
Hardwood11 said:
Any advice on what a walnut lumber tree (say 18-20) inch "should" be worth (not veneer) in todays market....thanks
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You may already know this, but a single tree may be viewed skeptically by sawyers. They may be wary that it is a "yard" tree and as such, they may not want it for any price. "Yard" trees often have some metal in them somewhere, which people that have expensive saw blades tend not to want. :)

Maybe you could add it to someone else's timber harvest??
 
northcedar said:
Just a 1 tree sale? Delivered to a mill? Or come and cut? Probably be lucky if you got $100 depending on how good it is. If you're talking a decent number of trees, then it all depends. Remember that MObuckchaser from the other forums? There was a thread couple years ago and he said that hedge was in super high demand and selling for premiums.
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No it is 40 trees, and they are graded as lumber trees, just a little feedback. I've heard $200/300 a tree but lots of variables. 17-19 inch variety.
 
If they are average trees and easy to get a 17-19 inch tree in southern Iowa has 125-150 board feet on average so 250-300 per tree would be about right to the landowner. We finished our last sale 11/15 and they were panicked to get them out ahead of some tariff dead line on 11/30 it who knows if it would have brought the same today. Have some of my own to sell so I hope it holds up.
 
Would an extremely large diameter black walnut that is close to 4' or bigger in diameter but branches out only 6' above ground level be of any value for veneer? It is a lone tree that sits in a field on my property and it was huge ever since I was a toddler. I'll have to post a picture of the old monarch.
 
203ntyp A tree like that I would look into having it slabbed for the live edge market. Live edge walnut furniture is pretty popular right now and a big tree with lots of branches makes some really cool slabs.
 
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