An analysis of cost trends for southern forestry practices.
Abstract
Costs of forestry practices have been reported periodically for the South for over 60 years, with few analyses of the cost trends. We report on an analysis of these trends between 1982 and 2016, including indices for overall costs and labor costs for forest management. The overall cost of intensive silviculture in the South, as measured by the southern forestry practices cost index (SFPCI), changed little; however, some practices experienced increases in real costs, while other costs changed little or declined slightly. Correlations between forestry wages and/or other variable cost components were identified for several practices and for the SFPCI. Results indicate that changes in the costs associated with practicing forestry in the South often correlate with changes in labor and fuel costs. Additional research could explore the effects of forestry practice cost change on the profitability of timber management scenarios.