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. 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. • The first two years –growth stage • 2nd year (harvest of 50 fruits per tree) – 60k • … For trees that will be harvested for lumber, space them 15 x 15 feet apart or closer. 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. The wholesale cost for 50 grafted chestnut trees is $848, or $16.95 per tree. The USFS policy of fire suppression had an early and ironic start. 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. 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. Actually marking off an acre and counting the trees is one option. U.S. chestnut production is less than 1 percent of total world production. Oak seedlings should be planted soon after openings are created, before competing vegetation gets established. 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. 2001). 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. Chestnuts bear on the outer growth each year, and so maximizing sunlight around the tree increases overall production. This is done to speed the accumulation of biomass per acre rather than produce large individual trees. Convert the amount of trees per acre to trees per hectare. Yields range from 1,500 to 3,000 shelled pounds per acre per year. The United States is one of the few nations in the world that can grow chestnuts, yet doesn't have a significant chestnut industry. As I was driving I was thinking. When in full production, chestnuts will yield 1,000 to 4,000 lb per acre. The top five states with the most chestnut acreage were Michigan, Florida, California, Oregon, and Virginia (NASS 2018). 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 acre needs to have lots of flowering plants that can provide nectar to your bees. ) became extinct - nearly. The United States has 919 farms producing chestnuts on more than 3,700 acres. If you’re an email person subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll let you know first whenever I post. With 200 ready-to-harvest trees per acre, that’s $14,800. The full answer would be long and complicated. Depending on how they are marketed, prices range from $1.50 to $6.00 per lb. 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. (it's winter my identification might be off) Foresters often talk about a growth rate using phrases like “40 cubic meters per hectare per year”, or “5 tons per acre per year”. What and Where to Prune After you get your tree into the shape you want, all you need to do is maintain it. Japanese/European hybrids (1/2-3/4”) are estimated at $25/tree and a density of 80 trees per acre totaling a plant cost of $2,000/acre. At 20" diameter, crop trees (either planted or in the woods) should have 35' of space between them, leaving about 36 per acre… Seedlings, 1 to 2 feet tall, are considerably less, at about $3.50 each. Practical Farmers of Iowa hosted a workshop on growing chestnuts commercially. This gives you approximately 440 trees per acre. Given that the U.S. imported 6.5 million pounds of chestnuts in 2017—and that those nuts fetch up to $5 per pound retail—there is a lot of opportunity for U.S. growers. Given local conditions and markets, a maximum rate of return on investment of 5.65% was achieved at 400 stems per acre after 34 years. Chestnuts bear on the outer growth each year, and so maximizing sunlight around the tree increases overall production. Edits have been added. Basically I just mow (or graze) the orchard, prune in the winter, and harvest. Some chestnut trees can live to more than a 100 years old. How much land do I need and what will be the income 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. They videoed the conference. Chestnut trees require well-drained soils on the acidic side of the pH scale. 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. But, if you have the room, a pecan tree is well worth having, and a welcome legacy for those who come behind you. 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. Sometimes reaching a height of more than 100 feet tall with trunk diameters often well over 10 feet, the American chestnut was the giant of the eastern U.S. forests. 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. You could put a pawpaw tree underneath every chestnut tree. That being said, at right around 1500 trees per acre, a 10 acre piece will yield you 15,000 (20 acres 30,000) trees. Now, how many chestnut trees are in an acre? Once in production, a chestnut orchard will yield 1,000–2,000 pounds per acre per year. The fertilizer helps correct these deficiencies and chestnut trees will do much … Local plants are adapted to local soils and climate and often have lower maintenance requirements. I am small farmer with abundant local markets, so I’ll assume a mid-range price of $10.00 per pound. CHESTNUTS The American Chestnut was once the dominant tree in hardwood forests until the chestnut blight fungus destroyed it over 100 years ago. At 20" diameter, crop trees (either planted or in the woods) should have 35' of space between them, leaving about 36 per acre, plus under-growth shrubs and saplings. 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. A hundred acres would be worth $254,160,000 and 1,000 acres would be valued at $2,541,600,000. Needless to say, I am excited about chestnut trees. Having a mixed orchard of walnut trees and another crop has been reported to result in lower yields than having pure nut orchards. Over 50 years of crops, that means each tree will yield 1,000 pounds of chestnuts. Also, like other fruiting trees, chestnut trees will produce more nuts per tree or per acre if the trees are pruned in ways that maximize nut production. A substantial, long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times. Many municipalities across the country short of cash are harvesting trees from city parks to manage their budgets. The three most popular Christmas trees are Balsam fir, Douglas fir and Scotch pine. 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. Chestnut trees typically produce pollen before they are mature enough to produce chestnuts. 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. Number of trees per acre for various common planting spacings Most farms don’t generate this much revenue, though. This one chestnut tree will generate $10,000 of revenue. African Black Ebony is the most valuable wood in the world. 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. Pecan trees get very large – more than 80 feet tall, with a spread of 50 feet wide or more. How long until NY has a million dollar chestnut economy? (They may produce sooner, but I’ll be conservative here.) 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. Credit: Jill Jennings / WTML. We recommend a 30’x30’ (54 trees per acre) or 40’x40’ (25 trees per acre) spacing for planting. 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 means that over it’s lifetime, each tree will average about 20 pounds of chestnuts per year. For trees that will be used for nut production, space trees 18 x 18 feet apart. Return for an acre with 150 trees. 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. A mature forest has 100 trees per acre. Chestnut trees, like many other fruiting trees, can be kept much lower than their natural height through annual pruning. 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. And click the (Follow) button for notifications when I write something new. The standard thinking is that you can get a cord of wood per acre per year. Tom Wahl, Want recipes for chestnuts? If there’s a glut of local organic chestnuts, I can imagine the price dropping a bit. That sounded really low to me, so I did some googling and found numbers more along the lines of 300-400 per acre. Now, how many chestnut trees are in an acre? 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