July - Sept. 2014
Editor's Note
We've made some changes with this issue of the Missouri Department of Conservation's Timber Price Trends. Due to a slow economy, and the voluntary nature of timber sales reporting in Missouri, the number of reports we receive has fallen off in recent years. This has meant that some average prices were based on very few reports! With his issues, we begin calculating average prices based on a rolling dataset of all reports from the past 12 months, with the oldest reports dropping out as new ones come in. This should provide more reports to back up each average price, as well as removing some artificial volatility from the numbers.
We have also reduced the number of reporting regions from 3to 2 (North and South), again upping the number of reports that go into each published price. And each region will report prices in their "native" scale (Doyle or International) with no "Statewide" attempt to merge the two.
We would like to thank the members of MOFRAC who helped with this change in direction, as well as the Missouri Consulting Foresters Association and the Missouri Department of Conservation, both of whom have taken "steps" to encourage more reporting from their members and employees.
Remember that one of the most valuable sources for information on log and timber markets is the local Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Forester or your Consulting Forester. Contact the nearest Forest District office for up-to-date, local advice. The Missouri Department of Conservation's Forestry Division, (573) 751-4115, will be happy to provide you with the name and address of the Resource Forester or MDC Regional Office nearest to you. You can locate a Consulting Forester by visiting the Mo. Consulting Forester's Association web site at: www.missouriforesters.com or by visiting the Private Land Assistance page of the MDC website http://mdc.mo.gov/landown/ and clicking on the "Conservation Assistance Contractors" link.
Tom Treiman and Jason Jensen, Editors