From Vision to Stewardship: 2019–2026

You may remember the original vision for Ride The Pine Tree Farm:
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Find 40–80 acres of recreational land that would appreciate over time while eventually producing a moderate annual income.

At first glance, the property appeared to check those boxes fairly quickly.

• 68 acres — check
• Land appreciation — check
• Pine straw revenue — eventually, check

That last part, however, required more work than expected.

Early discussions around the property’s pine straw production were vague. Specific annual production numbers were difficult to obtain. The best answer we consistently received was simply:

“It produces annual revenue.”

At the time of purchase, only the back 35 acres were mature enough to produce pine straw. The front 33 acres had only been planted in 2018 and were still years away from becoming productive.

Still, some income was better than none.

Then came the first rake in 2020.

To be honest, the initial results were somewhat disappointing.
Following the first season, the consulting forester recommended chemical treatment to reduce competing vegetation and invasive species throughout the mature stand. Combined with the initial rake, the goal was to give future production a much cleaner forest floor.

Looking back at photos from 2019 — many of which were unfortunately lost during a hard drive failure (use cloud storage, people) — the difference becomes obvious. The understory contained significantly more green saplings, brush, and competing vegetation, all of which complicated pine straw harvesting.

The treatment plan worked.

By the second rake, production had improved enough to cover the property’s annual obligations — although every property and financing structure will vary. That topic deserves its own future post.

Fast forward to December 2025, just prior to the seventh rake in January 2026, and the forest floor looked dramatically different. A second chemical treatment had been completed, and the mature stand had become substantially cleaner and more productive for pine straw operations.
Looking ahead, continued management will remain important.
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Chemical treatments will likely continue as needed to control competing vegetation and maintain straw production. Annual raking operations will continue on the mature acreage as well.

Meanwhile, the younger 33-acre stand planted in 2018 is still years away from pine straw production. Before that happens, the stand will eventually require thinning — likely sometime around the 15–18 year mark.

Typical thinning operations remove selected rows and underperforming trees in order to provide the strongest trees with more sunlight, water, and nutrients. Early thinning revenue is usually generated from pulpwood, generally consisting of trees measuring roughly 5–7 inches diameter at breast height (DBH).

In the meantime, prescribed fire will continue to play a major role in managing the younger stand. The first prescribed burn occurred in 2022, and future burns will likely continue on roughly a 3–4 year cycle.

Longleaf pine ecosystems evolved alongside fire, and several government programs currently exist to help support prescribed burning efforts — another topic worthy of its own discussion later on.

An added benefit of the prescribed burn program has been the establishment and maintenance of fire breaks throughout the property. While their primary purpose is to safely control and contain prescribed burns, the breaks also serve as functional internal roads that improve access for property inspections, wildlife observation, equipment movement, and future management activities.

Most recently, with the assistance of my consulting forester, negotiations have begun to increase pine straw revenue on the mature acreage. Several factors influence those discussions, including straw demand, labor availability, and broader timber commodity markets.

For the “too long; didn’t read” crowd, here’s the current 10-year outlook:

• Annual pine straw raking on the mature 35 acres
• Chemical treatments as needed to maintain production
• Monitoring pine straw market pricing
• Prescribed burning on the younger stand every 3–4 years
• First thinning of the younger stand sometime between approximately 2033–2036