December 31, 2025
Financial Results
The timber sale generated $60,000 in gross proceeds against an independent appraisal of approximately $90,000. The more important financial question, however, is how that $60,000 should be viewed alongside the cost and value of opening roughly 50 acres for future use.
The direct financial result of the timber sale was $60,000 in gross proceeds.
The independent appraisal had estimated the timber at approximately $90,000, so the realized sale price was approximately $30,000 below the appraisal.
That comparison is useful, but it is not the entire financial analysis.
The property was not being managed solely to maximize standing timber value. We intended to open substantial acreage for pasture and other farm uses. The harvest therefore provided cash while also performing the first major step in a land conversion that we already wanted to undertake.
On the other hand, the timber payment cannot reasonably be treated as pure profit from converting the property. The logger removed merchantable timber, not stumps and slash, and substantial post-harvest work could still be required depending on the standard of finished ground we wanted.
A later reclamation proposal demonstrates why this distinction matters. Intensive reclamation on 25 acres was quoted at $65,000 by itself, more than the entire timber-sale proceeds. A lower-intensity treatment for another 25 acres was quoted at $7,500.
Those costs belong primarily to the separate land-conversion experiment, but they change how we think about the economic value of the timber harvest.
The meaningful financial question is therefore not simply, 'Did we get $60,000?' It is whether selling the timber for $60,000 was the best economic first step toward the land use we ultimately wanted.
Observations
• Gross timber-sale proceeds were $60,000.
• Independent appraised timber value was approximately $90,000.
• The realized sale price was approximately $30,000 below the appraisal.
• The harvest also opened roughly 50 acres for future use.
• Post-harvest conversion costs can equal or exceed timber-sale proceeds if intensive reclamation is chosen.
• Timber-sale economics should be evaluated together with the landowner's intended future use, not as an isolated transaction.
Actions Taken
We recorded the $60,000 sale proceeds and compared them with the appraisal and the condition/value of the newly opened acreage. Detailed post-harvest conversion costs were moved into the separate Forest-to-Pasture experiment.
Next Step
Final Timber Sale & Harvest Scorecard — Including Long-Term Results