Forestry - Managing the family property

All the stuff I want dead (buckeye, honeysuckle, and multiflora rose) is leafing out now. All I see is work when I look at the woods.

I can believe how many buckeye trees I missed.

 

I got all of my NRCS contracts completed (and paid) since I was last here. A nice payday plus the relatively small stumpage from my forester. It was only a improvement cut ("thinning for wildlife and forest improvement") on 30 acres that was $616/ac from nrcs with 4 patch cuts totalling to 5ac. @ $794/ac.
That with the 4ac @$891/ac. of mulching and the 2 water crossings thats basically rip rap on fabric and some approach roads to them it all added up to just under $43k. with the stumpage @ $4500.
Don't take this as bragging but as encouragement to explore these programs. Besides some slash cleanup that's to be expected along the skid paths we're very happy with the results and look forward to seeing the results of this work in regrowth in the patch cuts and the "release" of the remaining trees in the 30ac thinning.
I'm not too hopeful for more govt participation as most of the staff was gone with my last visit to their office a month ago. (DOGE)
That's probably a correction that's long overdue.
This was all low grade logs, ie; firewood, hw pulp, sw pulp and mat logs. I made a deal with them that I'd clean up the landing for 50 pretty nice hemlock logs that I'll saw into lumber. It was a small, young 2 man logging outfit that had a fair bit of equipment problems and they finished when everything was well covered with snow and frozen to the ground and my excavator was on the property and would clean it up better than a skider.

 

Kind of interesting that you got $43k from the gov programs, but yet say it was long overdue to cut the staff that administers said programs.....

 

Cut, rein in or revaluate and adjust, they spend too much money and it's just about too late for a correction.
This process for my work was started well over 2 years ago
FWIW.

 

Pulled up at least 1000 bush honeysuckle plants by hand this evening. The ground is soft and they pop right out. Even the medium sized ones aren't much of a challenge...until you do a bunch.

I have honeysuckle about 95% controlled on all but about 6 acres....and those 6 acres are going to suuuuuuck.

 

The NRCS/USDA programs are/were available as an incentive to modify existing landowner practices in order to have a desired beneficial result. The program usually comes at a significant initial cost to landowner as well as land use restrictions but has significant long term financial advantageous to landowner, local and state economies as well human and environmental health.

I’ll throw a NGO example out that I dealt with 15’ish years ago. A rural electric coop I was a member of was experiencing significant growth. More electricity could not be produced or purchased! New power plant was scheduled to come on line in like 7 years but peak electricity demand would exceed supply within 3 years. What did they do, mailed everyone who requested them 10-20 CFL bulbs and business like 50 bulbs plus made 10,000’s available for purchase at a discounted price. Individually the bulbs did nothing but collectively a million bulbs saved the COOP ~1,000,000 kW per dayof use. Each bulb paid for itself within 12-18 months and allowed the COOP to avoid brownouts and power outages until the power plant was brought into service.

Many government programs are similar yes there is a cost now but the cost of waiting could be exponentially higher.

I think we all can agree there are many problems with the government. How we address the problems is a political discussion.

 

Out of curiosity what are you applying to keep the ticks at bay ? Took the dog on a walk a few days ago, we pulled ten ticks off of him and we only walked two miles on the road. Of course the dog was walking in the ditches etc.

 

Ditch ticks...those are the worst

 

They are almost as bad as lot lizards

 

I get hammered by mosquitos but almost never find a tick on me. I was out there for 3 hours today cutting honeysuckle jungle and didn't find a single one on me.

 

I put a dent in the 6 acre honeysuckle bush today, but not a very big one. You get lost in there and what you have cut and still need to cut start to look the same. Once the leaves wilt down some it will be easier to tell what's going on.

I ran two tanks of gas through the saw and called it a day. Only about 1 trillion left to go.

 

Well, I figure it's about time to put down the chainsaw and strap on the backpack sprayer.

How do you handle the multiflora rose? I have some areas where it is spotty and easy enough to spray but there is one area that's ~6 acres of 75%-100% coverage. Not even the deer go there anymore. I could just work my way around the edges a little at a time but that could take years and a chit ton of herbicide. I'm tempted to rent a mini-ex with a mulching head then spray whatever comes back up this fall.

 

I don't have enough of it to mess with. Pretty sure low dose Glypho will do them in (foliage application). Mastication seems to take about 2-3 years before they give up.

 

2% glypho is enough to kill it, but I physically can't get to it to spray it.

 

I heard somewhere about mixing 1 quart of Crossbow herbicide with 2 gallons of diesel fuel and painting it on the freshly cut stumps pretty much kills em for good. I have never tried it myself though.

 

That for sure does work. I mix diesel and triclopyr and it kills stuff 100% dead on cut stumps. My problem is cutting the stumps in an impenetrable thorny jungle.

 

Triclopyr + Diesel is the nuclear option. It'll take down healthy adult trees. Caution, only the worst of the worst seems to regenerate after broad usage. I recommend spot use for that stuff. Been there and done that.

 

I don’t recall total acreage But 2 different 6 acres area one multi flora and one honey suckle

get the excavator clean it ; put in trails enjoy property instead of just working it.

 

I might, but I'm one of those weirdos that likes the work.

I picked a jug of brush killer, enough for about 16 backpack sprayer loads. I'm going to start tomorrow AM and see how awful it is. I can only take so many thorns.

 

My neighbor recently did this, and he told me that he's going to get paid $600 an acre from NRCS. With recent government funding cuts, I told him I wouldn't count my chickens until they've hatched.