The economics of managing a small-scale radiata pine forest using target diameter harvesting

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic performance of a target diameter harvesting management system in a small radiata pine forest in New Zealand. The analysis uses 20 years of harvesting data and shorter periods of data for other economic variables. A pre-harvest inventory was also carried out, which allowed the structure of the forest to be described and the standing crop to be valued. The forest was established in even-aged stands over a number of years. The transition period from an even-aged to uneven-aged forest is not yet complete – even for the oldest forest areas which have been harvested for 20 years. Using the available data, a comparison was able to be made between target diameter harvesting and clear-felling (even-aged management). While more data are required to do a full analysis, the conclusion is that the returns from this forest are modest and very similar between TDH and clear-felling. This management system successfully allows annual cashflows from harvest on a relatively small area of forest. This is not just a different harvesting method – the entire management process and philosophy is different – TDH as reported here is managed in a very similar way to a pastoral farm. Similarities include the on-going evaluation and scheduling a range of operations by the owners who live on the property – successful implementation requires an owner with a wide variety of skills.