Hey Jay want to first say thanks for all the great info you provide and the fast responses you have. I was wondering what the market is for Hickory? Is it very close to oak? Had some timber marked a few years ago that had a lot of Poplar in it and I have another woods that has a lot of Hickory in it. Would this be comparable or would I be looking at getting a little more for the hickory? Just trying to get a gauge on what I might have. Thanks Aaron

Hi Aaron:

Demand of hickory has improved over the last year. Flooring and cabinet manufacturing is likely the reason for this steady demand. High-quality hickory logs are certainly on-par with red oak species—some instances more valuable, some instances less valuable. This of course depends upon who purchases your standing timber and the quality of your trees. White oak and black walnut are still pretty hot right now!

As I've mentioned continuously throughout this forum, the value of a particular species depends on numerous factors such as marketing your timber to numerous licensed timber buyers due to the simple fact that certain timber buyers have much better markets for your standing timber compared to other timber buyers and not surprisingly these buyers are capable of paying much higher stumpage prices; tree diameter; species; external tree/log defects; internal tree/log defects; merchantable log length; volume; contract stipulations, etc.

Again, it is all about quality, quality, and quality. If you have quality timber and marketing savvy, you should have no problems selling your hickory—you just need to find the most competent and capable timber buyers!

I have several very large hickory trees in my backyard. What are they worth?

Hi Edwin:

I don't appraise individual trees via Ask a Forester. However, I feel compelled to tell you that these trees have little to no commercial value as sawtimber, i.e., no timber buyer is going to pay you to harvest your backyard hickory trees.

Please contact your state forestry agency, a custom sawmill operator, or a consulting forester in your home state of Delaware if you truly feel the need to get an appraisal of these trees!