Lumber prices are soaring, but the benefits are bypassing Georgia tree farmers.
The state’s sawmills cut production by 20 percent last year, fearing a pandemic-induced recession, but demand went through the roof, spurred by quarantine do-it-yourself projects.
The state has more trees than it has seen in decades, and mills are struggling to cut them fast enough. Tree growers, however, are receiving $23 dollars a ton for pine logs, which is half of what they got in 2000.
Georgia pine lumber was selling for $350 dollars per thousand board feet in January 2020. By the end of the year, it was $748 dollars and hit close to $1,000 dollars this month.
Georgia sold $679 million dollars worth of wood in 2019.
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