| Fall
Field Days…..in Richland County….. on 26 & 27 Sept
2003
From Seed to Sawlogs and everything In Between
The weather
was threatening rain as 47 people gathered for another Wisconsin
Chapter Walnut Council Fall Field Day. The stop this year was a
variety of sites in Richland County, Wisconsin. Richland Center
was the kick off point for a late morning social get together with
coffee and doughnuts. Everyone was welcomed with opening remarks
from the WWC president Ron Jervis. The field day was then laid out
and the tour with 3 stops was ready to go.
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| The
first stop was a direct seeding that was completed in the fall
of 2002. After some weed control in the spring and a year of
growth, the 12-acre field looks to have a promising future as
forest. The seed mixture was walnut, red oak, white oak and
bur oak. Rows were about 4 feet apart and drilled into the ground
with seed being about 2 – 4 inches apart in the rows.
The early estimate was 2800 trees per acre in June but more
seedlings from seed have come up since then. The goal of 5000
trees/acre should be reached by late summer 2004. Walnut can
sometimes take 2 years to germinate and because of seed depth
some acorns and walnuts take longer to break through. The idea
of direct seeding is gathering momentum and does show some promise.
Like most things in forestry, it will take time to see |
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| what does
and does not work. Trying to mimic Mother Nature and create a more
natural plantation takes a lot of thought and planning when collecting
and utilizing seed. |
| From
seed or a seedling, one of the greatest pleasures for anyone
who wants to be in contact to the land is to plant a tree. One
of the greatest rewards can be to plant a tree and watch it
as fights, struggles and succeeds in its life to grow into a
large tree and to know you have left that mark on the land.
Special thanks to Larrie Christianson for letting us be apart
of his direct seeding project and use it as an educational tool. |
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| The second stop
was to discuss the practice of Timber Stand Improvement (TSI). Many
times a forester has marked trees for this practice and as it starts
to be cut the feeling is it was over-marked or too much is being taken.
This stop was to look at an area that had all the ironwood removed
with all the poor form hickory. The cut was severe but the response
was excellent from all the small seedlings that were waiting for their
chance to grow. The best formed hickory and trees with wildlife value
were left uncut, about 5 per acre. |
| The
TSI met all the landowner objectives of increasing some wildlife
habitat that would hold deer, invite grouse and create some
under-story growth where it was barren ground before. Lastly,
the potential timber quality has been improved for the future.
As markets change and utilization increases the non-commercial
cut that was demonstrated will some day become a commercial
operation for southern Wisconsin. Until that time cost share
programs and non-commercial treatments are the only way to covert
some of the previously abused wood lots to more productive forest
land. Usually the least glamorous of all the land practices,
TSI is the most important to achieve objectives and goals of
a property. Commonly this treatment has the largest impact on
a forest. The TSI that is done will direct the species diversity,
age and structure for the next 50 years. Thanks to the Lovell
brothers for doing such a good job on the TSI and being such
good stewards of the land. |
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| The TSI met all
the landowner objectives of increasing some wildlife habitat that
would hold deer, invite grouse and create some under-story growth
where it was barren ground before. Lastly, the potential timber quality
has been improved for the future. As markets change and utilization
increases the non-commercial cut that was demonstrated will some day
become a commercial operation for southern Wisconsin. Until that time
cost share programs and non-commercial treatments are the only way
to covert some of the previously abused wood lots to more productive
forest land. Usually the least glamorous of all the land practices,
TSI is the most important to achieve objectives and goals of a property.
Commonly this treatment has the largest impact on a forest. The TSI
that is done will direct the species diversity, age and structure
for the next 50 years. Thanks to the Lovell brothers for doing such
a good job on the TSI and being such good stewards of the land. |
| With
DNR foresters as prompters, small groups each took ribbon and
went through an exercise of marking what trees that they thought
should be removed. The most important thing that anyone could
take from this exercise was that every person sees a forest
a little differently and to understand that, makes the forest
a little easier to manage. A large old snag can get many reactions:
no timber value to one person, a wildlife tree to another, and
aesthetically pleasing yet to another. This stop was mostly
to focus on crop tree release and current markets. Another positive
was the very good discussion in the groups on other issues to
managing a property. Special thanks to John and Paulette Kelly
for letting us walk on their property and holding a demonstration
that people could be a part of. |
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| From seeds to
sawlogs, from trying to create a forest to managing a mature forest,
there is never one set moment in time that can be said, now is the
time to do it. Trying to understand all the processes in between will
give us a better appreciation and that for the moment, as a landowner
we are apart of it. |
| The
next day, Saturday, 27Sept03…..was the “Light
on the Land Logging” Field Demonstrations and Workshops
near Viroqua, WI. The equipment on display included everything
a landowner would need to do small scale logging, thinning,
and TSI on his own property. Also a direct seeder for walnut
and oak trees ( available for rent from your local Forester)was
there along with a black walnut huller. A group of us had a
nice discussion looking at a Chipper for taking care of all
those pruned branches that we trip over if just left laying
on the ground. It was very informative to evaluate so many different
pieces of equipment all together in one place. |
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