Economic analysis of a target diameter harvesting system in radiata pine

Abstract

Target diameter harvesting (TDH) is a singletree selection system where harvesting takes place periodically, and all stems above a minimum target diameter at breast height (DBH) are removed. This report analyses economic performance of 10 years of TDH harvesting in a radiata pine forest, compared with conventional clearfell systems. Roading costs, wind risk and cashflow profiles are also discussed. Results show that TDH is able to provide similar economic returns to clearfelling for up to five TDH harvests. There is a small opportunity cost that increases with increasing numbers of TDH harvests. Land expectation value of a TDH regime is most sensitive to the discount rate, log prices and log yield. Harvesting costs and transport costs have less influence, and changes in roading costs have very little effect. There is potential for TDH to have ecosystem services benefits, but this was not explored in this study.