Historic and Projected Economic Returns to Alternative Site Preparation Treatments: The Fayette Study

Thirty-six years of historical growth and yield data from a site preparation study were used to evaluate historic and projected economic returns to pine plantation management. The study, installed in 1958, was located in the upper Coastal Plain physiographic region of northwest Alabama. Five site preparation treatments to control hardwood competition were examined. The treatments included a check, girdling without herbicide, stem injection with herbicide, axe frilling with herbicide, and scarification with a bulldozer. Loblolly pine seedlings were planted on a 6 by 9 ft spacing resulting in 807 trees/ac. Measurements on competing vegetation and loblolly pine stand development were taken at various times from 1958 to 1994. The highest historical real rates of return achieved for the six potential rotation ages evaluated in the study were obtained for stands established using injection, axe frill, and bulldoze site preparation treatments and grown to age 13. Fluctuations in stumpage price and land value also affected returns. Rising stumpage prices in the early 1990s contributed to recovering returns approaching those realized at age 13. Using 1996 as the base year for pine plantation establishment, projected economic returns to management alternatives were evaluated using land expectation values (LEVs). Pine plantations established using either the injection, axe frill, or bulldoze site preparation treatments and grown to rotation ages of 34 or 36 yr had the highest LEVs. South. J. Appl. For. 25(2):53–59.