Comparing the financial performance of traditionally managed beech and oak stands with roomy established and pruned stands

Beech and oak stands are normally established with high numbers of plants. On one hand, this costs a lot, but on the other hand, knot-free timber may be expected only in this way. This study analyses whether roomy establishment and, as a result, lower timber quality lead to financial advantages over the normal treatment. In addition to this, it is tested if pruning of roomy established beech and oak stands is financially advantageous. For this valuation, conventionally managed stands were simulated with the forest growth simulator Silva and for the roomy established stands, data from trial plots were completed with Silva. The development of the pruned oak stands followed the yield table of Jobling and Pearce (Free growth of oak, Forest record number 113, Forestry Commission HMSO, London, 1977), while for beech the development of the diameters orientated to an investigation of Hasenauer et al. (Österr Forstztg 105:28–29, 1994). Based on the assortments contained in the stands, a valuation of the different treatments was done with annuities within a Monte Carlo simulation, thereby including the volatility of timber prices and the risk of natural hazards. Additionally, the imputed costs per cubic meter of produced timber and the minimum share of high-value assortments on the pruned trunks were calculated for the required rates of return of 1, 2 and 3%. The conventionally managed beech and oak stands were found to be inferior from the financial point of view. Even the non-pruned stands with roomy establishment were superior despite the lower timber quality. The minimum share of high-value assortments on the pruned trunks were between 6 and 410%. Particularly in the case of high values of the land, the maximum volume of high-value assortments was not sufficient to achieve certain rates of return. Nevertheless, the stands with pruning and low-density management were more profitable. In addition to this, it was ascertained that pruning of beech and oak is possible and does not hinder the production of high-value assortments.