William Penn Black Walnut Farm seeking trusted sources.

[Campbell Farm]

I am a new member and found this web post on google search. Our farm is formally a William Penn estate with an historical black walnut forest documented by the historical society of Lancaster county.
We did a small harvest select test cut over 10 years ago and was very disappointed with the whole process and after working very hard for a 80 hour work week we discovered that we had been taken advantage of and never considered selling standing or cut timber again...
Then after reading this post thread our spirits lifted that there very well could be professional honest people to sell to after paying very high taxes all theses years and not having a successful harvest on our family farm.
We also have some of the original wide long boards stacked in the 245 plus year old bank barn that we discovered up in the rafters about 20 years ago.
I will post lots of photos this weekend.
Thank you for this wonderful website and look forward to finding honest sources to have a successful tree harvest on the farm some day soon.
Campbell Farm

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

I am a new member and found this web post on google search. Our farm is formally a William Penn estate with an historical black walnut forest documented by the historical society of Lancaster county.
We did a small harvest select test cut over 10 years ago and was very disappointed with the whole process and after working very hard for a 80 hour work week we discovered that we had been taken advantage of and never considered selling standing or cut timber again...
Then after reading this post thread our spirits lifted that there very well could be professional honest people to sell to after paying very high taxes all theses years and not having a successful harvest on our family farm.
We also have some of the original wide long boards stacked in the 245 plus year old bank barn that we discovered up in the rafters about 20 years ago.
I will post lots of photos this weekend.
Thank you for this wonderful website and look forward to finding honest sources to have a successful tree harvest on the farm some day soon.
Campbell Farm

Welcome to the buzz. It sounds like you have a very interesting and historical property. I believe there is a land trust that you can join that can assist an cutting the tax bill. I know one of my clients here in Chester County has a very large farm within a land trust only because property taxes are so high around here (not because he has animals or something).
Also, before any cutting I would recommend discussing what your goals are with a state forester. S/He can help select the right trees that should be thinned, which ones to leave and where the skid roads should be to protect the best timber. The problem is they can be hard to get in touch with due to the lack of woodlands in our counties.
A very important part about selling timber is timing. Not only the time of year so the timber doesn’t spoil before it can be made into a finished product, but timing of the market. Right now I would say the market if fairly “squishy”, meaning not stable. I don’t know the terms of your previous sale, but the market has been up and down for quite a few years.
I wish you good luck and again, Welcome!

 

[ATH]

Ditto...you need a good forester helping with the sale. The State foresters are generally a good place to start because they don't have a financial interest in the sale. Once you have a good clear path forward and are looking for a consulting forester, look for somebody who is more interested in talking about your goals for long-term management than how much money they can get from you.

 

[Drumbo]

No offense to the amish but beware, they get a crazy look in their eye when they see black walnuts.
And I believe there are a fair amount of them in Lancaster county. I work with a lot of them here in Ohio and they tend to get a little crazy about black walnuts.
A lot of people around here tend to be unhappy with their finished product when they come in and select cut a woods.
But like others have said be clear with whomever about what your long term goals are.