120 new acres

[Don Staples]

Joseph Zorzin wrote:
> 
> Don Staples wrote:
> 
> > Good thought.  My buyers like my marking because of consistency.  As we
> > talked before, we dont grade our mark down here, to many markets looking
> > for different products, so we tally stems by height (to merchantable
> > diamter) and diameter.  Table reflects that in the bid package.  We do
> > not offer our estimates on volume, to many games played by buyers as to
> > what is consitered a "guarentee" if you even mention volume.  Pulpwood
> > buyers will tell you that they didn't cut out when in reality they moved
> > 75% as logs and only the culls and tops went into pulp wood.  Loggers
> > will move logs as chip and saw to tell you the log volume did not fill
> > out.  A game that most consultants opted out of by selling by the stem.
> 
> No volumes? Then how do you know your sale price per MBF? Or do you
> actually figure it out but don't put it in the bid sheet? I give volumes
> and say that's only an estimate, if you're short; too bad. Luckily they
> never run short and if they did I wouldn't believe them because I build
> in an overrun so they think I'm generous, then next time they bid higher
> and it all comes out in the wash. <G> I've been told that all the mills
> around here keep a ledger on the accuracy of each forester.

All the same here.  I know the volume, as does my client, and a select
few of the buyers.  Those select few are the ones that will tell me how
they cut out, and do so accurately.  As you well know, a consultant
cannot possibly fine tune his marking if he has no feed back as to the
cut.  I go the same route, giving a little (average is less than 5%) to
the logger.  But enough so that they don't regularly undercut.  And
there will be undercuts regardless of the best laid plans.  The standard
response on the non-reporters of volumes is "We cut out alright" which
has come to mean "We over cut a little".  

-- 
Don Staples

My Ego Stroke:  http://www.livingston.net/dstaples/