Jan. -March, 2008
News from Missouri
I have made several contacts with the forest products industry in the past three months. My contacts reveal that industry is experiencing tough economical issues. These issues are resulting from two topics; fuel prices and the slumping housing market.
Diesel prices are approaching $4.00 per gallon now. Even before the fuel prices went so high there really wasn’t much money in trucking. Trucking is now a losing business venture for sawmills. The problem is that sawmillers or loggers are getting less for their end product with more money being spent on producing it.
The housing market is the main reason for the downturn in the market for hardwood lumber. Higher grades of lumber are used in new home construction or in remodeling projects. Hardwood lumber is used for hardwood floors, cabinets, and furniture. Experts cannot agree on when the housing market will come back but industry is hoping it will only be about a year.
Several loggers are in timber sale contracts that were entered into when markets were good. Others are still giving more for standing timber just to have trees to harvest. When timber markets turn down it usually takes time for landowners to accept less for their timber; this lag time really hurts loggers and sawmillers financially.
On a brighter note I have been working with the Missouri Forest Products Association (MFPA) to create the Master Logger Certification (MLC) program. This program is meant for loggers that want to showcase their abilities to the public. Loggers that sign up for the MLC program will agree to uphold several areas of responsibilities. The logger will be subject to an independent third party audit and can be removed from the program if he does not carryout his responsibilities. This program will demonstrate to landowners that the logger is doing the right thing on the timber harvest. Stay tuned for this program to be implemented. It will be about a year before the first loggers are fully certified.
The MLC program is different from the Professional Timber Harvesters training that has trained approximately 290 loggers in Missouri. The Professional Timber Harvesters training is just training. The logger receives his training and does not have to worry about an audit to make sure he is living up to his areas of responsibilities. In the MLC program a logger can and will be removed from the program if he is not fulfilling his responsibilities.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me. John Tuttle (573)522-4115 ext 3304.