Delaware timber prices

What are my trees worth in Delaware?

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 Delaware the best sawtimber on this page tops out at $224 while pulpwood tops out at $8.27 — 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 Delaware'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 Delaware timber is measured

Delaware uses more than one unit, which trips people up. Sawtimber is priced by the thousand board feet, written MBF, and other products are priced by the ton, green weight, straight off the scales at the mill. Never compare a figure in one unit against a figure in another — they are not the same measurement of wood.

The figures here are measured on the pine International 1/4", hardwood Doyle scale. A board-foot price means nothing without knowing which scale it was written on, so it is worth asking of any bid you receive.

Is a timber sale realistic in Delaware?

Delaware has a small commercial timber industry, and that matters more than the price does. Where there are few mills bidding, the practical question is whether anybody will come and cut at all.

None of that means your trees are worthless. It means the sale is found rather than looked up — you want somebody who already works your area and knows where the wood goes. Tell us about your tract and we will go looking, and we track where the requests come from so we know which state to build out next.

How much forest Delaware has, and who owns it

Delaware has 353,435 acres of forest land. More than 78% privately owned, mostly by individuals and families.

The wood itself: Loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, pond pine and yellow-poplar. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.

Delaware regulates harvesting down to a single acre — a one-acre cut needs ten business days' written notice and an approved erosion and sediment control permit before a saw starts.

Sources: agriculture.delaware.gov · archive.regulations.delaware.gov

Do I need a permit to cut timber in Delaware?

Delaware regulates harvesting down to a single acre. Operators and buyers must give the Delaware Forest Service written notice at least 10 business days before any silvicultural operation of one acre or more, and no work may begin until an erosion and sediment control permit is approved.

The Delaware Seed Tree Law also applies to commercial cuts on 10 acres or more where loblolly, shortleaf or pond pine or yellow-poplar make up at least 25% of live trees — you must leave at least six seed-bearing trees 14 inches or larger per acre, unless 400 vigorous seedlings per acre are already established.

Source: archive.regulations.delaware.gov

Commercial Forest Plantation Act: what Delaware charges to hold woodland

A thirty-year property tax exemption on forest land managed for timber production, renewable at expiry or on change of ownership.

Two things to check before you apply: it takes 10 contiguous forested acres, and a written forest management plan is required. Programmes like this usually carry a claw-back — take the land out of forest use early and the state wants the deferred tax back — so read the terms before you sign rather than after you have cut.

Source: agriculture.delaware.gov

What the Delaware Forest Service will do for you, free

Free management planning and technical assistance — a forester will develop a customised plan, conduct a forest inventory summarising timber volumes by species, supervise reforestation, and help with timber sales by providing sample contracts and lists of potential 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: delawareforest.com

Getting the best price for your timber

In a market this thin the first job is not squeezing the price, it is finding somebody who will come and cut at all. Haul distance decides most of it: wood that has to travel a long way to a mill loses its value on the truck, so an operator already working near you is worth more than a better price quoted from three counties over.

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 Delaware 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 14 Delaware 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.