Arkansas timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Arkansas — published stumpage values by species, and a free calculator that turns them into a figure for your own land.
Quick answer
These are stumpage prices for Arkansas — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for mixed hardwood sawtimber is $37.69 per ton, reported by University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension for Q1 2026. Delivered or mill log prices are a different and much higher number, because they include the cost of cutting and hauling the wood. TimberClear lists 359 Arkansas foresters, buyers, loggers and mills who work this timber. What a particular stand brings is settled by a timber cruise, not by a price list.
If you own woodland in Arkansas and you are wondering what it is worth, the number you want is the stumpage price — what a buyer pays you for timber while it is still standing. The most recent published figure for mixed hardwood sawtimber in Arkansas is $37.69 per ton, reported by University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension for Q1 2026. The full table is below.
Two prices get quoted in this business and they are not the same. Stumpage is what reaches you. Delivered, sometimes called the mill or log price, is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard — and the difference between them is the cost of doing all that work. Delivered prices are easier to find online, they are a good deal higher, and a landowner who mistakes one for the other walks into a sale expecting money that was never on the table. Everything on this page is stumpage.
Arkansas stumpage prices by species
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension, Q1 2026
| Timber | per ton |
|---|---|
| Pine sawtimber | $24.6 |
| Pine chip-n-saw | $13.9 |
| Pine pulpwoodpulp | $3.72 |
| Mixed hardwood sawtimber | $37.69 |
| Hardwood pulpwoodpulp | $7.51 |
Source: University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension, Q1 2026. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
Compare pine prices per ton across the Southern states
What is an acre of timber worth in Arkansas?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $1,270 to $2,550 for pine and other softwood and $2,080 to $4,160 for hardwood. Smaller trees, a thinner stand or a partial cut bring less. It's a ballpark, not an appraisal.
What is your timber worth?
The table above is the price. The calculator turns it into a figure for your land — it asks your acreage, your species, how big the trees are and how thick they stand, then works the estimate from the prices above. About a minute, and no email needed to see it.
What are my trees worth in Arkansas?
A price list cannot answer that on its own, and any site that tells you otherwise is guessing. Three things decide what an acre brings, and only you can see them: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and what species they are.
Size matters more than anything else on that list. In Arkansas the best sawtimber on this page tops out at $37.69 while pulpwood tops out at $7.51 — the same tree, grown on, is worth several times more. That is the whole argument for knowing what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Our free timber value calculator asks those three questions and works an estimate from Arkansas's own published prices, the ones in the table on this page. It gives you a range rather than a single figure, because a range is the honest shape of the answer. It takes about a minute and it does not ask for your email to show you the number.
How much forest Arkansas has, and who owns it
Arkansas has 18.8 million acres of forest land. Private landowners own over 69% of the state's timberland.
The wood itself: Oak/hickory (41%) and loblolly/shortleaf pine (31%). Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Arkansas has the most forestry-dependent economy of all southern states, with forest industries contributing more than $6.1 billion a year — and its timber is still under-cut, with softwood growth running 1.6 times removals and hardwood 3.0 times.
Sources: uaex.uada.edu · agriculture.arkansas.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Arkansas?
Arkansas requires no state permit and no notification to harvest timber on private land. The state's forestry best management practices are voluntary.
The one hard legal duty at harvest time is boundary-related: state law requires boundary lines to be ascertained before timber is cut.
To be straight with you about how we know that: we looked and found no statewide requirement, which is not quite the same as confirming there is none. County ordinances and local road rules exist that no search of state law turns up. One call to the Forestry Division, Arkansas Department of Agriculture settles it before you cut.
Source: cdn.ymaws.com
Property tax on Arkansas timberland
Timberland is valued on the productivity of its soil rather than market value, and it happens through the assessor's classification — there is no covenant to sign or program to join.
Source: dfa.arkansas.gov
Free help from Arkansas's state forestry agency
The Forestry Division, Arkansas Department of Agriculture. The Forest Stewardship Program gives landowners personalised management plans from professional foresters. The Division staffs about 200 foresters and rangers across 63 offices in all 75 counties, and publishes searchable directories of consulting foresters and timber buyers.
Worth taking. A state service forester does not bid on your timber and does not take a commission, so the advice comes without a stake in the outcome. They will not run your sale for you — that is a consulting forester's job — but they will tell you what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Source: agriculture.arkansas.gov
Getting the best price for your timber
The single biggest lever is competition. One buyer who turns up and makes an offer has no reason to bid against himself. A sealed-bid sale, run by a consulting forester who invites several buyers to price the same marked timber, routinely moves the final number by a wide margin — and it costs you a share of the sale rather than money up front.
Before any of that, have the timber cruised. A cruise is a forester walking your land and measuring what is actually standing, so you are selling a known quantity instead of taking somebody's word for it.
Because Arkansas timber is sold by weight, the load tickets are your receipt. Every truck that leaves is weighed at the mill, and those tickets are what your payment is calculated from. Ask to receive copies as the job runs rather than a single figure at the end — a sale you cannot check is a sale you have to take on trust.
And put the terms in writing before anybody starts: what gets cut, what stays, what the land looks like when they leave, and when you get paid.
TimberClear lists 359 Arkansas foresters, buyers, loggers and mills. Every listing is free and complete, including the phone number the business already publishes. We have not vetted, verified or endorsed any of them — the listing tells you who they are and what counties they cover, and the choosing is yours.
359 Arkansas timber businesses
Foresters, buyers, loggers and mills, with the counties each one covers. Free and complete.
Compare states side by side
Pick any states and see their prices next to each other.
Timber price questions in Arkansas
What are timber prices in Arkansas right now?
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension reports mixed hardwood sawtimber at $37.69 per ton for Q1 2026. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Arkansas are listed on this page, and they move every quarter.
What is stumpage value?
Stumpage is the price paid for timber while it is still standing — the money that reaches the landowner. It is not the same as a delivered or mill log price, which is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard. The gap between the two is the cost of doing that work, and it is large. A delivered price quoted as though it were stumpage will make timber look worth far more than it is.
How much is an acre of timber worth in Arkansas?
It depends on three things the price list cannot tell you: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and whether they are sawtimber or pulpwood size. Sawtimber is worth several times what pulpwood is worth per ton. TimberClear's free timber value calculator asks those questions and works the estimate from Arkansas's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Arkansas?
Arkansas requires no state permit and no notification to harvest timber on private land. The state's forestry best management practices are voluntary. The one hard legal duty at harvest time is boundary-related: state law requires boundary lines to be ascertained before timber is cut. We found no statewide requirement, which is not the same as confirming there is none — county ordinances exist that a search of state law does not turn up, so check locally before you cut.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Arkansas?
Arkansas runs Timberland use-value assessment (Amendment 59). Timberland is valued on the productivity of its soil rather than market value, and it happens through the assessor's classification — there is no covenant to sign or program to join.
Who can help me manage my timber in Arkansas for free?
The Forestry Division, Arkansas Department of Agriculture. The Forest Stewardship Program gives landowners personalised management plans from professional foresters. The Division staffs about 200 foresters and rangers across 63 offices in all 75 counties, and publishes searchable directories of consulting foresters and timber buyers.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Arkansas?
Get more than one offer. A sealed-bid sale run by a consulting forester puts buyers in competition with each other, and that is the single biggest lever a landowner has. Have the timber cruised first so you know what you are selling, and put the terms in writing before anybody starts cutting. TimberClear lists 359 Arkansas businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.