99th plus percentile --- Operational Maximum for US South Pine Production--- What does it look like? What does it take to repeat? What are the biggest drivers? How is yield affected?
We assess pine plantation tree growth using Site Index base age 25 years. Simply put, this measure assesses the growth trajectory of an operational stand of trees planted together and managed the same and answers the question of 'How tall the best 1/2 of the trees in the stand will be after completing 25 growing seasons?'. In the late 1990's, the average site index for standing loblolly pine in the SE US would have been around 63-68' tall at age 25. Today, the average is around 75' tall at the same age. But the operational potential for new stands planted today is much higher. What does it look like? The young stand pictured here on August 11, 2021 on Burgin Timberlands property in Randolph Co., GA, at just under 2 years of age allows you to visualize what a site index 100'+ stand growth trajectory looks like compared to an average growth trajectory. In a site index 75' stand, the best half of the trees would average 4' at the end of the second growing season. In a site index 95' to 100'+ stand, the comparable end of year 2 height would average 8-10'+. The trees pictured, representative of the entire 100-acre stand here, are already 7-8' tall in August (with 3 more months to grow, they will grow another 2' or so before year end). Some of the better trees in the stand are 12' to 13' tall already. The end of year two height will be double that of the average investor pine stand.
What does it take to repeat this level of realized growth? A 99th or 100th percentile stand does not just happen. An optimal plan was written up, and then it was executed without fall down. Neither the writing, nor the execution are average. Both are done differently than that typical of the market sector. And, both are repeatable, i.e. a better system is simply enacted systematically.
What are the biggest drivers? There are six primary drivers in this operational case study, i.e. too many to fully describe here. But the main driver is genetics, i.e. you will not reach this percentile of achievement without it. This particular loblolly genotype utilized here is a GentreeXT Pole-focus CMP-infused selection. Other keys include competition control and planting decisions (timing, stock type, planting method, protection, initial density) and soil protection (prior stand material retained and soil protected).
How is the yield impacted? This stand, as compared to an average SI 75' stand, will produce about 80% more marketable timber volume, and it will sequester about 80% more carbon. And, because the tree grade / quality is so high in this particular genetic source, the stored carbon will go into solid wood products that store carbon for a long storage life.