Tree Farming: Species, Rotations and How to Set Up a Plantation

Species selection: the first and most critical decision

The species you plant determines the rotation length, the silvicultural system, the market you're targeting and the site requirements that must be met. The four decisions are not independent — they form a system, and changing one changes the others. The sequence must always be: site assessment first, then species, then silvicultural design, then financial model.

Eucalyptus: the default for fast-rotation tree farming

In Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and increasingly Mexico, eucalyptus is the default species for fast-rotation commercial tree farming. The reasons are: the shortest payback period of any major commercial species (6-10 years to first harvest), the best-established industrial buyer network (pulp mills, biomass plants, utility pole manufacturers), and the highest MAI on adequate sites. The tradeoffs are lower timber value per m³ compared to pine or hardwoods, and high water demand that makes it unsuitable on sites below 700-800mm of annual rainfall.

Pine: the solid wood choice in temperate zones

In the subtropical zones of southern Brazil (Paraná, Santa Catarina), Misiones and Corrientes (Argentina), and parts of Chile and Colombia, pine is the dominant solid wood species. The longer rotation (14-20 years) compared to eucalyptus is offset by higher timber value per m³ for solid wood and structural lumber, and by the ability to generate multiple revenue streams: resin tapping during the rotation, multiple thinnings with pulp-grade wood, and a final harvest of solid-wood quality timber.

Silvicultural management: what happens between planting and harvest

The silvicultural management schedule determines timber quality and MAI. The main interventions are:

• Soil preparation: subsoiling, ripping or mounding to ensure root penetration below any mechanical or structural impediment before planting.
• Weed control (years 1-3): competition from grasses and shrubs in the first three years is the single largest cause of plantation failure. Chemical or mechanical control in the establishment window is non-negotiable.
• Pruning (pine, teak, noble species): removing lower branches to produce knot-free clear wood. For pine, typically 2-3 pruning lifts to 6m height on the selected final crop trees. Timing matters: prune when active growth allows fast occlusion of the wound.
• Thinning: removing suppressed and dominated trees to concentrate growth on the best individuals. Provides intermediate revenue (pulp-grade wood) and improves final crop quality and diameter increment.

Market identification: before you plant, not after

The most common mistake in tree farm planning — after species-site mismatch — is establishing a plantation without confirming market access. The key questions before committing:

• For eucalyptus: is there a pulp mill, biomass plant or pole buyer within 150km? What price do they pay at the gate?
• For pine: is there a sawmill or structural lumber market within economic hauling distance for the volume and dimensions you'll produce?
• For teak and noble species: who are the buyers, what are the timber quality requirements, and how is log grading done? Premium timber markets are thinner and more fragmented than commodity markets.

A basic sanity check: calculate the net revenue per hectare at harvest after freight cost to the nearest buyer. If that number doesn't produce a positive NPV at the conservative MAI scenario, the project economics are not viable regardless of the optimistic projections.