Some folks have taken stacking firewood to an art form
Posted on 10/21/2020 12:34:30 PM PDT by Kaslin
The backdrop for President Trump’s visit to Duluth, Minnesota, last week featured two powerful American symbols. Air Force One, a symbol of American leadership and strength, and three loaded logging trucks, personifying one of the nation’s most important agricultural products and the many hard-working small-business owners that make up the logging industry.
The forest products and logging sector was deemed critical during the COVID pandemic as the nation continued to rely on sustainably harvested timber to produce everything from home building materials to toilet paper. Logging has a rich American history going back to building the original settlements, ship building, and the expansion of railroads. Today it is no less important, with countless commodities produced from forest products used in every home and office.
Unfortunately, for many logging companies, the COVID pandemic has taken a heavy toll. Lumber and paper mills across the country have reduced or ceased production in response to drops in demand. The closure of major paper mills in Wisconsin Rapids and Duluth, Minnesota, are among the most devastating regional examples. Nationwide production curtailments have led to lower prices for log delivery to mills. Logging companies are generally small, family-owned businesses that have high operating costs and are more susceptible to prolonged periods of economic decline. Many are in danger of permanent closure. That means when the economy recovers, there simply will not be as many loggers to do the work and respond to demand. Consequently, consumer costs will rise dramatically across the nation.
Virtually all raw material delivered to mills by loggers and truckers have experienced price drops greater than 5 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. A 6.7 percent (21.4 million tons) reduction in nation-wide wood consumption has reduced wood prices and generated a $1.83 billion (-13.0 percent) loss in revenue.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was intended to provide much-needed relief to businesses struggling to survive during this economic shutdown, and for most industries the stimulus was very helpful. However, CARES Act programs like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) are limited to a percentage of actual payroll and don’t take into consideration fixed costs, such as monthly payments on expensive equipment that many in the logging industry are faced with. These fixed costs are like a mortgage — they must be paid whether a person is working or not. Loggers in some regions are experiencing 40 percent losses, making it impossible to keep up with overhead costs.
Logging is categorized as an agriculture product by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), but when it comes to providing assistance it is not given the same consideration as other products by the agency. Congress authorized $9.5 billion to support agricultural producers affected by COVID. In May, USDA launched the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program in the CARES Act for a limited number of commodities. In July, it expanded the program for additional commodities. Timber and logs were not included. This Fall USDA created CFAP-2 which allocates additional funds to agricultural producers impacted in the second two quarters of 2020. This now includes Christmas trees that have yet to be harvested this year, ornamental fish and tobacco -- but not commercial timber harvest.
Six U.S. Senators -- including Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Tina Smith (D-MN) -- have urged the USDA to provide financial assistance to American loggers and log haulers who have experienced serious financial strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, the senators stated that, “Loggers and log haulers are critical to America’s forest products industry – which is a top-10 manufacturing industry in 45 U.S. states. Our nation’s loggers and haulers harvest and transport the raw material that supports over $283 billion in value-added wood and paper products – with a supply chain that includes nearly one million Americans earning over $54 billion in combined payroll. In light of the dire situation facing loggers and log haulers, we urge the Department to use its broad authority and funds already provided by Congress to immediately make financial assistance available to loggers and log haulers impacted by the pandemic.”
Virtually all raw material delivered to mills by loggers and truckers have experienced price drops greater than 5 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. A 6.7 percent (21.4 million tons) reduction in nation-wide wood consumption has reduced wood prices and generated a $1.83 billion (-13.0 percent) loss in revenue.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was intended to provide much-needed relief to businesses struggling to survive during this economic shutdown, and for most industries the stimulus was very helpful. However, CARES Act programs like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) are limited to a percentage of actual payroll and don’t take into consideration fixed costs, such as monthly payments on expensive equipment that many in the logging industry are faced with. These fixed costs are like a mortgage — they must be paid whether a person is working or not. Loggers in some regions are experiencing 40 percent losses, making it impossible to keep up with overhead costs.
Logging is categorized as an agriculture product by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), but when it comes to providing assistance it is not given the same consideration as other products by the agency. Congress authorized $9.5 billion to support agricultural producers affected by COVID. In May, USDA launched the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program in the CARES Act for a limited number of commodities. In July, it expanded the program for additional commodities. Timber and logs were not included. This Fall USDA created CFAP-2 which allocates additional funds to agricultural producers impacted in the second two quarters of 2020. This now includes Christmas trees that have yet to be harvested this year, ornamental fish and tobacco -- but not commercial timber harvest.
Six U.S. Senators -- including Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Tina Smith (D-MN) -- have urged the USDA to provide financial assistance to American loggers and log haulers who have experienced serious financial strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, the senators stated that, “Loggers and log haulers are critical to America’s forest products industry – which is a top-10 manufacturing industry in 45 U.S. states. Our nation’s loggers and haulers harvest and transport the raw material that supports over $283 billion in value-added wood and paper products – with a supply chain that includes nearly one million Americans earning over $54 billion in combined payroll. In light of the dire situation facing loggers and log haulers, we urge the Department to use its broad authority and funds already provided by Congress to immediately make financial assistance available to loggers and log haulers impacted by the pandemic.”
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I saw those logging trucks. I sure hope the Iron Range region can carry Trump to victory in Minnesota.
We have a shortage of pressure treated lumber and coated deck screws.
Lumberjack song by the band Jackyl.
They use a chain saw in place of a electric guitar changing the pitch using the choke.
Then there is the Lumberjack song by Monty Python.
My contractor used 3” deck screws for the 2 x 6 planks. I’m finding myself screwing them back daon an 8th of an inch b4 sanding/refinishing. Down the road I’ll have to replace them with 4” + a wider head.
One of the northeastern states, (I can’t remember which one),
early on in this whole epi-demi-panic, classified paper mills
as being “essential” (because some of them make toilet tissue),
and at the same time, classified forestry operations as “non-essential”.
Before very long, the “powers-that-be” became aware of
just where toilet tissue actually comes from.
Bureaucratic decisions like that and similar other ones nation-wide
explain many of the shortages in the grocery stores.
wood shrinks over time
I bounced at one of Jackyls shows.
Thought Jesse was going to get his long hair caught in the thing. Had a real chain on it!
I hope the logger love transfers to the Michigan timber industry too.
Lumber mills have closed due to lack of demand???? In this area everyone spent their vacation money building and upgrading houses. From what a local carpenter tells me it is almost impossible to get building lumber, and prices are thru the roof. I needed a sheet of plywood and couldn’t even get the kind I wanted.
Check out GRK products.
/retired carpenter
Some folks have taken stacking firewood to an art form
I first heard that song in a bar in New Jersey. The patrons asked the DJ to play it over and over. We had a great night.
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