In 1584, the governor of Genoa, which dominated Corsica, ordered all the farmers and landowners to plant four trees yearly, among which was a chestnut tree – plus olive, fig and mulberry trees. The full answer would be long and complicated. If for each additional tree planted per acre the average yield per tree drops 2 pounds, how many trees should be planted to maximize the yield per acre? The least Forecasted returns for the first 10 years in a one acre land is as follows. This is certainly kickstarting tree growth, but you end up with a thicket instead of a mature forest. This gives you approximately 440 trees per acre. I have been telling people for years that one reasonably fit adult should be able to manage 10 acres of chestnuts by his or herself (labor for harvesting being the limiting factor). One to five acres is a manageable size that one or two people could care for by hand and net a few thousand dollars. A chestnut tree starts yielding nuts at around 10 years old. Tom Wahl, Want recipes for chestnuts? 10 acres of chestnuts, well managed on a good site, should be able to produce 3,500 to 4,000 lbs per acre of nuts, for a total of 35,000 to 40,000 lbs on the 10 acres. On the ground, in the more exposed areas, you could grow perennial vegetables such as asparagus, rhubarb, and horse radish. If you don’t like reading, enjoy the video: Tom Wahl spoke on site selection and care of chestnut trees at the Chestnut conference in Letts, Iowa on February 11, 2017. I am working on a book (to be published by Chelsea Green Co.) that will explain this all in detail, but for now I will give the “short” answer. Many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods. This acre needs to have lots of flowering plants that can provide nectar to your bees. Chestnut trees increase the value of the land for future landowners. 850 - 1000 trees per acre (the stocking rate is actually 1000 trees per acre but majority of plantations nowadays have 15% of the site allocated for bio-diversity, this is generally made up of open space/access tracks/road or stream setbacks etc.....however some acres will have 1000 and others could have 600.....even with the 15% rule you'll find many sites are closer to a 900/acre average) Many native broadleaf trees will grow in difficult areas with little or no fertiliser. The conference was video taped. If trees within a row are 20 feet apart and the rows are 12 feet apart (12 X 20 or 20 X 12), trees are growing at a density of roughly 182 trees per acre (see Table 2). How much land do I need and what will be the income per acre? For trees that will be harvested for lumber, space them 15 x 15 feet apart or closer. As I was driving I was thinking. Trees in poplar bioenergy farms can be planted at 1,500 trees per acre, which is much closer together than those intended for more traditional uses such as pulp and paper, which range from 34 to 360 trees per acre (Stanturf et al. Acre orchard w/27 trees per acre 1 $494.30 $488.30 2-4 $160.91 $154.91 5-7 $238.21 $232.21 8+ $548.50 $575.98 Total years 1-7 1691.66/Acre 1649.66/Acre Total Years 8-15 4676.00/Acre 4607.84/Acre Table 2. With 200 ready-to-harvest trees per acre, that’s $14,800. Even though this takes 12 to 15 years to reach this level (and that is assuming no disasters such as extreme weather events), this does not mean there is no income leading up to this point. This is done to speed the accumulation of biomass per acre rather than produce large individual trees. In Iowa, the nuts wholesale for $2 to $3 per pound, so the 10 acres should generate $70K to $120K per year. The United States has 919 farms producing chestnuts on more than 3,700 acres. Many municipalities across the country short of cash are harvesting trees from city parks to manage their budgets. Below he gives more details on his claim. In the shadier areas you could add high-value medicinal plants such as ginseng and goldenseal. As the costs of growing Christmas trees are mostly labor for maintenance, such as mowing for weed control and shearing the young trees, a small grower who does their own work can keep most of the profits. Perennial tree-based agriculture solves many of these problems right now and the Chestnut tree produces more food per acre every year than any other nut tree. That is just for chestnuts. Edits have been added. Actually marking off an acre and counting the trees is one option. (it's winter my identification might be off) Local plants are adapted to local soils and climate and often have lower maintenance requirements. Credit: Jill Jennings / WTML. U.S. chestnut production is less than 1 percent of total world production. ) became extinct - nearly. In Florida, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, a major source of planting stock for the hybrid Dunstan chestnut, reports that Dunstans can produce 2,000–4,000 pounds of nuts per acre per year at maturity. I’m planting a them on 5 farms throughout the Hudson Valley, and landowners keep emailing asking if I can plant on their land too. Resilient. Chestnuts bear on the outer growth each year, and so maximizing sunlight around the tree increases overall production. Pawpaws can wholesale for as high as $7 to $10 per pound. Information from the conference is available. Practical Farmers of Iowa hosted a workshop on growing chestnuts commercially. Foresters often talk about a growth rate using phrases like “40 cubic meters per hectare per year”, or “5 tons per acre per year”. Looking at a new property which has some large trees (beech, horse chestnut, sycamore) several elder, two hazelnuts, 4 apple trees,(could be a pear in there) what looks like a Mirabelle plum and many other small trees like holy, sumac etc. Maintain this spacing until the trees reach 8" in diameter, then thin to increase spacing to 20'. This video is 1 hour and 20 minute long. Find out how many pecan trees per acre and how far apart to plant pecan trees in this blog. They're doing 40 per square meter! Myth #2 - Chinese chestnut trees out produce European - casual research indicates the best producing Chinese chestnut tree orchards east of the Rocky Mountains produce about 1200 lbs per acre. The blight that began with the introduction of an Asian chestnut species in 1905 ravaged the population of some 4 billion trees in the Eastern United States. Many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods. The United States is one of the few nations in the world that can grow chestnuts, yet doesn't have a significant chestnut industry. Hybrid chestnut. They are not suitable for the small backyard. How Trees Grow Trees Do Not Grow at a Constant Rate Foresters use words in their discussions about tree growth that may mislead investors. Fertilizing is being suggested because most soils have some deficiencies. So if you calculate one can earn (70*10*30) = 21,000 to (100*10*30)=30,000 every month. That sounded really low to me, so I did some googling and found numbers more along the lines of 300-400 per acre. In the beginning of the Christian era, people probably started to realize the value and versatility of sweet chestnut wood, leading to a slow spread of the cultivation of C. sativa trees, a theory that is supported by pollen data and literary sources, as well as the increased use of sweet chestnut wood as poles and in supporting structures, wood works and pier building between A.D. 100 and 600. If you own a tractor, it can be used to mark the distance between tree rows by simply mounting a metal or pvc pipe centered over top of the tractor body. Number of trees per acre for various common planting spacings Empress trees mature several times faster than your average oak or pine and absorb about 103 tons of carbon a year per acre. Chestnut trees particularly flourish in the Mediterranean basin. Example: conversion factor used = 2.47105 120 trees per acre = 120 * 2.47105 = 269.5 trees per hectare Dunstan Chestnuts can get large, as much as 60’ tall and 40’ wide. [we plan to sell U-pick pawpaws for $4.00/pound in 2015] Under the pawpaws and chestnuts you could add shade-tolerant berry shrubs such as gooseberry, currant, and honeyberry. These planting distances result in 182 trees per acre or 450 trees per hectare. • The first two years –growth stage • 2nd year (harvest of 50 fruits per tree) – 60k • … Let’s get a few thousand acres into chestnuts in the next few years, and generate some fresh income for farmers and rural communities. Aim for 75 to 100 trees per acre. Easier to maintain. A Lesson In Crital Thinking. Looking at a new property which has some large trees (beech, horse chestnut, sycamore) several elder, two hazelnuts, 4 apple trees,(could be a pear in there) what looks like a Mirabelle plum and many other small trees like holy, sumac etc. A hundred acres would be worth $254,160,000 and 1,000 acres would be valued at $2,541,600,000. Some chestnut trees can live to more than a 100 years old. I've got a dozen chestnut trees that are now about 15 years old (they've been producing for 7 or 8 years now) and my bees rarely bother with them. If I decide to sell wholesale, getting $5.00 per pound is not unreasonable. While the chances of an American chestnut variety becoming a timber tree again is likely decades away, Stehli said, there is money to be made in chestnuts. (it's winter my identification might be off) Many max out their profits between $15,000 and $20,000 because there is a limited demand for Christmas trees in … Depending on how they are marketed, prices range from $1.50 to $6.00 per lb. The top five states with the most chestnut acreage were Michigan, Florida, California, Oregon, and Virginia (NASS 2018). While a healthy acre of forest may have 30 trees or fewer, some now have 10 to 100 times that many. The USFS policy of fire suppression had an early and ironic start. If you liked this story, hit me with some Claps so Medium will share it with others. Recently Tom Wahl made a claim on the Practical Farmers of Iowa list serve that 16 families could make a living farming on 160 acres using an agroforestry system. For example, a White Oak Tree Plantation averaging 200 one hundred foot by 36 inch diameter trees per acre would be worth $2,541,600 at today's prices. This one chestnut tree will generate $10,000 of revenue. Let’s assume the low end at 1,000 pounds. If cashew production is to be your sole source of income, you will need to plant at least 200 ha of trees and be prepared to employ permanent staff. Dr. Kim D. Coder, Warnell School, University of Georgia2. Seedlings, 1 to 2 feet tall, are considerably less, at about $3.50 each. African Black Ebony is the most valuable wood in the world. Consider how many nectar sources are nearby and consult your local laws to see what kind of laws are in place regarding beehive placement. In a few years I’ll be able to line out the cost side of this equation, though the maintenance of chestnut trees is pretty darn minimal compared to most tree crops. If you’re an email person subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll let you know first whenever I post. As the trees grow bigger, the grove will be thinned, and mature groves will end up with trees on … We recommend a 30’x30’ (54 trees per acre) or 40’x40’ (25 trees per acre) spacing for planting. go to Chestnut recipes. Trees Per Acre Table (By Diameter and Basal Area) Dr. Kim D. Coder- University of Georgia, December 1996 There are many types of natural resource planning and management applications that require estimating the number of trees for a given size that would occupy an acre of land. Chestnut trees can be grown on land too hilly or poor for other crops, and produce 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of nuts per acre. should be attainable) at direct wholesale pricing of only $2.50 per pound (we currently sell for $3.50 per pound) amounts to $5000.00 per acre. Castanea sativa, the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. The three most popular Christmas trees are Balsam fir, Douglas fir and Scotch pine. The chestnut was the primary mast crop food source for whitetails until all were wiped out nearly a century ago. Now-a-days with the Internet and craigslist, etc, marketing your Christmas trees is … Many orchards of European hybrid chestnut trees produce over 2000 lbs per acre. A substantial, long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times. I have been telling people for years that one reasonably fit adult should be able to manage 10 acres of chestnuts by his or herself (labor for harvesting being the limiting factor). Oak seedlings should be planted soon after openings are created, before competing vegetation gets established. We need to figure out how we are going to feed billions of people, without any topsoil left. In fact, 100 trees per acre is the minimum to be classified as a forest in a particular program, and that's in Southern California, which is especially sparse land for trees. Yield is a function of variety, climate, environment and management factors. Having a mixed orchard of walnut trees and another crop has been reported to result in lower yields than having pure nut orchards. The best university info on agroforestry comes from U of Missouri Center for Agroforestry www.centerforagroforestry.org, including a 12 page summary on chestnut growing. For instance, a stand of 6-inch DBH trees averaging 100 trees per acre does not contain the same volume of wood as 100 trees per acre of 16-inch DBH trees. How many fruit/nut trees would you plant if you had space for as many as you want? With the spacing I use in my plantings on various landowners’ properties, I start with ~50 trees per … Yields range from 1,500 to 3,000 shelled pounds per acre per year. Find out all about it here.Also, how many fruit trees can you plant on an acre? When in full production, chestnuts will yield 1,000 to 4,000 lb per acre. This video of Tom goes into details about Establishment and maintenance. 5. Convert the amount of trees per acre to trees per hectare. Now, how many chestnut trees are in an acre? Return for an acre with 150 trees. Locating hive on both sides of his orchard will at least "look" like he will have better coverage of his trees. Assuming only 2000 pounds of nuts (up to 2800 lbs. Maintain this spacing until the trees reach 8" in diameter, then thin to increase spacing to 20'. Like row crops and small grains, chestnut trees have their share of pests. Now, how many chestnut trees are in an acre? For trees that will be used for nut production, space trees 18 x 18 feet apart. Chestnut trees require well-drained soils on the acidic side of the pH scale. That means that over it’s lifetime, each tree will average about 20 pounds of chestnuts per year. The wholesale cost for 50 grafted chestnut trees is $848, or $16.95 per tree. This would be for a “mature” level of production, but that can be reached in 12 to 15 years from the initial planting. I am sorry that I can’t point you to university research documenting all of these figures, but there just aren’t any universities doing this. Nuts.com has a 1 pound bag of dried chestnuts at $13.99 and 1 pound fresh at $9.99; on Amazon you can buy 5.25 pounds of organic chestnuts for $44.99, which works out to ~$8.5 per pound. Actually marking off an acre and counting the trees is one option. This is usually referred to as the mean annual increment or MAI. 820 trees per acre. (They may produce sooner, but I’ll be conservative here.) Hybrid chestnut. You are aiming for 25 to 30 trees per acre. That’s a LOT less work than our permaculture apple orchard, or almost any of the other crops we grow. Chestnuts can begin bearing in as little as two years from planting, and can reach 350 lbs per acre by year 5. 2001). Assuming that the coconut is planted in an ideal condition, the average nuts per tree could be 100 per tree though the farmers at Pollachi (TN< INDIA) have an average of 150 per tree while farmers at Kerala have only 50 - 60 per tree. Similarly, timber stands can have the same basal area yet look very different on the ground. Chestnut trees, like many other fruiting trees, can be kept much lower than their natural height through annual pruning. Researchers have developed several blight-resistant chestnut varieties that combine the best qualities of American and Chinese chestnut trees that can be grown in most areas of the U.S. This figure comes from my own personal experience in growing and marketing chestnuts, plus yield data from the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry and from Kansas State University. The closer these trees are planted to each other, the less pruning you will have to do. You could put a pawpaw tree underneath every chestnut tree. 5. A chestnut grower estimates from past records that if 20 trees are planted per acre, each tree will average 60 pounds of nuts per year. Hazels require similar annual input costs as corn, and organic sustainability should be readily achievable as the hazel tree is native unlike most annual crops grown. Dunstan Chestnuts can get large, as much as 60’ tall and 40’ wide. They videoed the conference. $15,000 of revenue per tree sounds pretty good to me! Once in production, a chestnut orchard will yield 1,000–2,000 pounds per acre per year. You can  watch the vidoe and others from the chestnut conferce on you tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aV_U0k-lmg, 2017 Letts, Iowa Chestnut Conference Videos & Handouts, Comfortable Income on 10 Acres using Chestnuts & Pawpaws, Establishing and Maintaining Chestnuts Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aV_U0k-lmg, Tom Wahl on Site Selection and Care of Chestnuts. 43560/(30 x 30) = 48.4 trees per acre - rounding a little will make it a simple 50 for planning purposes In addition to purchasing chestnut trees you will also need grass seed, fertilizer and ground preparation. Small conventionally produced nuts can go for $5 per pound at retail, while fresh local organic chestnuts can sell for upwards of $16.50 per pound. Most farms don’t generate this much revenue, though. acre to 1 acre, with larger openings preferred in older, taller stands. Trees are planted in the fall in Michigan with an estimated cost of $61.20/acre based on tart cherry estimates. This weekend I gifted a fellow farmer a chestnut tree. How to Plant Chestnut Trees for Deer By Josh Honeycutt author of Brow Tines and Backstrap August 10, 2018. With the spacing I use in my plantings on various landowners’ properties, I start with ~50 trees per acre. When in … Chestnut trees typically produce pollen before they are mature enough to produce chestnuts. In contrast, the average corn crop yields 160 bushels per acre in New York and at a current price of under $4.00 per bushel equals only $640 per acre. When in full production, chestnuts will yield 1,000 to 4,000 lb per acre. Dr. Patrick O’Malley estimates that pawpaws in Iowa should bear around 14,000 pounds per acre (in full sun). The trees also require fertilizer on a monthly basis beginning in April and continuing through harvest, about 1/2 a pound of urea or 25 pounds of manure per application per tree. 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