Page 18 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2022

an increase in sawtimber required from private landowners, also underscores the importance of carefully considering seedling options for reforestation.
Landowner objectives are wide-ranging, but loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) remains the most commonly planted species across the South. Landowners can choose among Open-Pollinated (OP), Mass-Control Pollinated (MCP®), and Varietal seedlings. OP seedlings have one known parent as
the mother tree, while the source of pollen is unknown. With MCP® seedlings, both parents are known, resulting in much better genetic control over growth and sawtimber quality traits such as stem straightness, disease resistance, limb size, and forking reduction. MCP® has now been planted on approximately two million acres across the South. While varietal seedling production is much lower than MCP®,
this seedling type represents the highest level of genetic improvement. Varietals are mass-propagated from control pollination. The key message is that landowners not only have various options based on their management objectives, but they are in
the driver’s seat. There is only one chance to get it right, and the decision of which
seedling to plant will endure for the next 25 to 30 years.
ArborGen tests all OP, MCP®, and Varietal seedlings prior to offering them
for commercial sale. This is done not
only through a robust internal effort from ArborGen product development, but also in cooperation as a full member of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Tree Improvement Program. As a fully licensed user of the NCSU Performance Rating System (PRS®), landowners benefit from reviewing endorsed data beyond internal ArborGen information. Essentially, they can feel secure in knowing the seedling they select for planting has been subject to third- party review of genetic scores.
The U.S. South is the largest softwood lumber manufacturing region in North
America, with some projecting another four billion board feet in production to
be added in 2022. Roseburg’s announced Weldon, NC facility, set to begin production in late 2022, will have the capacity to produce 400 million board
feet alone. As many MCP® and Varietal plantations are now being thinned, landowners are witnessing dramatic tree quality differences compared to OP stands in additional chip-n-saw and uniform distribution of residual sawtimber (see photos on page 14). The contrasts between OP and MCP stands is dramatic. ArborGen Reforestation Advisors stands ready to help North Carolina landowners create such customized stands to meet the soaring demand for lumber through additional sawtimber production.
Jason Watson attended Mississippi State University and received a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 1996. He began his forestry career at Anderson-Tully Company, focusing on hardwood silviculture for five years, and worked as a consulting forester in Mississippi before moving to South Carolina.
In South Carolina, Watson spent extensive time working in reforestation with Weyerhaeuser and Cellfor before coming to ArborGen in August of 2012. He became a Reforestation Manager in 2020 and earned his Master of Science in Forestry from Mississippi State in 2020.
SOURCE: *McKeand, S., T. Mullin, T. Byram, and T. White. 2003. Deployment of genetically improved loblolly and slash pines in the South. Journal of Forestry. 101(3): 32-37.
16 ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2022