Georgia's logging businesses, 1987 to 1997
2001
Greene, W.D. | Jackson, B.D. | Culpepper, J.D.
As we did in 1987 and 1992, we surveyed independent logging firms in Georgia during 1997 to identify the types of systems used, the products produced, the productivity of labor and capital inputs, and the usage of training and technology. The 219 loggers who responded to the survey represented 38 percent of the total volume harvested in Georgia in 1996. A majority of loggers removed either tree-length (90%) and/or log-length (74%) products. Only 15 percent reported harvesting shortwood while only 7 percent produced chips. Excluding truck drivers, logging firms average about 6.6 employees, capital investments of $613,000 in current dollars, and weekly production levels of 552 cords. Logging firms average 1.32 crews. Median weekly production per seven-man crew was 400 cords with a median investment of $470,000. By comparison, Georgia logging firms in 1987 and 1992, averaged just under six employees, capital investments of approximately $244,000 and $481,000 in current dollars, and production levels of 279 and 478 cords per week, respectively. Labor productivity (cords per man-hour) has increased 78 percent since 1987 while capital productivity (capital per cord per week) has remained constant in real dollars. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents attempt to negotiate cut-and-haul contracts, but only 7 percent indicated that they were at least sometimes successful. About 74 percent said they were placed on quotas an average of 38 percent of the time. Of the 1997 respondents, 55 percent used written harvest plans and 65 percent had participated in Georgia's Master Timber Harvester education program. Seventy-nine percent always followed Best Management Practices in 1997 compared to only 47 percent in 1992.
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