For the past 10 years, farmers raised trees instead of annual
row crops on almost 2
percent of Georgia’s 37 million acres as a part of the
Conservation Reserve Program.
But contracts expire on more than a third of that land during
1996, and landowners have
to decide whether to keep their land in pine trees or convert it
back to row crops.
"The land in the program is unsuitable for row
crops," said David Moorhead, a
forest regeneration specialist with the University of Georgia
Extension Service.
"Partly because of that, most farmers will see long-term
profitability in keeping the
land in trees."
The 10-year CRP contracts on almost 260,000 acres expire in
1996 — nearly five times
as many acres as in 1995. Through 1999, contracts on another
400,000 acres expire.
The CRP began in 1985 as a part of that year’s farm bill, and
most participating
farmers signed contracts in the first three years of the
program.
The land farmers chose to enter in the program is highly
erodible and historically grew
row crops. CRP designers aimed to protect that land by
converting it to less intensive
agricultural use.
Had they kept their land in row crops, Moorhead said, farmers
would likely have lost
money.
"The cost of producing crops on that land would have
been greater than the sale
value of the crops grown," he said. "The land just
wouldn’t have been able to
support the crop."
Putting the land in trees trimmed surplus commodity stocks,
reduced soil erosion (which
improved water quality) and supported larger wildlife and game
populations. And annual
payments helped farmers pay to manage the land while they
weren’t producing crops.
"In this region, pine trees offer fantastic rates of
return over time,"
Moorhead said. "Farmers have several options for land
coming out of the CRP, but
keeping it in trees could be the most profitable one."
While the land is still under contract, farmers can lease the
land for hunting but
can’t harvest any other commodity. Support payments averaging
$43.06 per acre per year
provide an income for farmers to maintain and manage their
program acres.
Now that farmers are looking for another income plan for
their CRP land, they need to
carefully weigh their choices.
Keeping land in trees could be the most profitable choice,
but immediate income would
be low. Besides leasing the land to a pine straw harvester,
farmers may have to wait three
to five years before seeing any income, Moorhead said.
Most CRP trees are 10 to 12 years old. At about 15 years, the
stand must be thinned to
allow the remaining trees enough room to keep growing. Trees cut
down in the thinning
process can be sold as pulpwood.
After 15 years, tree stands can be thinned every five to
seven years to keep the stand
healthy. Georgia ranks fifth in the world in pulpwood
harvests.
"Think of the stand as a living savings account,"
Moorhead said. "Every
five or so years, the stand has accumulated a certain amount of
interest the farmer can
withdraw."
Keeping the land in trees isn’t farmers’ only option. Others
include leasing the trees
to pulpwood contractors until they reach maturity, or clear-
cutting them to produce annual
crops.
"Farmers need to remember why they chose this land for
the program as they make
their decisions now," Moorhead said. "If it wasn’t
profitable to produce row
crops 10 years ago, it probably won’t be now."
Some farmers near urban areas may be able to sell their land
to developers, but
Moorhead said only 2 percent to 5 percent would reasonably have
that option.
The county Extension office has more information about the
CRP and can help landowners
make sound management decisions as their contracts end.
