Letters from the Inbox

Q&A

Dear Longleaf Alliance, We want to begin harvesting pine straw on our 30 acres of young longleaf to generate some income to fund other management on our land. The stand will probably need some clean-up before we can get a contractor interested. Is fire a tool that can help us here? What tips do you have for us in using fire in combination with pine straw harvesting?

Straw Rich, but Cash Poor in Georgia

Dear Georgia,

There are numerous benefits to prescribed fire in young longleaf stands, including for pine straw production. We are thrilled to hear you’re planning on putting the pine straw receipts back into other management activities; this could even provide more prescribed fire opportunities on your property. There are different methods of harvesting straw, and all are potentially lucrative. They can range from low impact to highly intensive and mechanized. Consumers desire bales free of cones, hardwood leaves, and limbs, but the strategies that get you there should be informed by your situation, objectives for your property, and local pine straw market.

As the most cost-effective management tool we have, fire can control sprouting hardwoods and “clean” the stand from unwanted debris. Starting burning early, with regular fires every 2 years, will provide the best results and allow for repeated applications before your stand reaches pine straw production age (beginning as early as year 8). Since it sounds like you are looking to rake soon, careful selection and application of herbicides will help control any problematic competition if fire alone doesn’t meet your clean-up objectives.

Low intensity, frequently repeated fire continues to be an important tool even after initiating harvesting when landowners are trying to balance pine straw income and other highly valued objectives, including maintaining groundcover, increasing wildlife habitats, and long-term timber investments. In our Longleaf 101 Academy, we characterize this approach as “environmental pine straw.” We see this working well for an increasing number of landowners. It typically involves periodic harvesting rather than annual or semi-annual harvests. An example “cycle” is to collect for two years, then take a “rest” year from straw harvesting (year 3) before burning so that the added needles result in a hotter fire to best control hardwoods. Yes, the fire consumes valuable pine straw, but if it does an adequate job of controlling hardwoods along with limbs and any cones, you may save the expense of herbicides as well as the labor costs for application and “clean up.” This hybrid approach could mean only having to use spot treatments on individual undesired hardwoods instead of broadcast treatments to all your acreage, which can enable you to retain and even improve native groundcover and wildlife habitats over time, while saving money.

It’s more common to see an intensive approach to pine straw production, which can be much like farming straw. This approach works best on old ag field sites, as intensive management often results in only pine straw and pine trees, with all other diversity removed. In this approach, gross receipts may be higher, but the herbicide, clean-up, and additional costs are higher, too. Be aware of the negative impacts of intensive harvesting on forest health. The same benefits pine straw provides as a landscaping mulch apply to the forest floor. Removing pine needles reduces soil moisture and nutrients available from litter decomposition. Raking also increases soil compaction, thus reducing rainfall infiltration and increasing runoff from the soil. How does that compare for you at the end of the day? For some landowners, a lower impact approach that brings in good income, incorporates prescribed fire, minimizes the stress to the trees, and offers the many other benefits of a healthy forest may help them optimize multiple objectives.

Here are considerations as you make your harvesting plan and seek out a contractor. First, ask about nearby examples of their work. Discuss raking and bailing techniques – hand raking and bailing are more laborintensive but may leave a smaller footprint on your stand. In your contract, specify bale size and weight and payment method by the bale or by the acre. When cleaning up a stand for harvesting, do not allow workers to toss the cones and branches against the base of trees you want to keep. (When the fire comes, trees in “piles” can be lost due to intense heat.) Also, please do not allow your straw contractor to burn other trash, bags, or debris on your property, though you might want to help them out. Better to plainly state your expectations: “Don’t leave anything behind that was not here when you began.”

All responsible pine straw producers go to great lengths to eliminate invasive species often spread in pine straw. Where such problems exist, the good land steward will exclude the affected area from collection until treatments have successfully eliminated the invasive species infestation. One last request – stick to your forest management timeline for thinning in pine straw stands. Trees that are too crowded cannot get enough resources, and ultimately health and vigor decrease (and susceptibility to pests increases, too).

Sincerely, The Longleaf Alliance