FARM FORESTRY IN THE LAKE STATES 30 
SUMMARY 
Farm woods in the Lake States—Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michi- 
gan—cover 15 million acres of land, which is 20 percent of the region’s 
farm land and 29 percent of its forest land. The farm woods of the 
region fall into three broad belts—(1) the western prairie, (2) the 
southern woodland, and (3) the northern forest. 
In the western belt, farm woods are mostly sparse natural timber 
stands along streams, and planted shelterbelts. Their major contri- 
bution is protecting crops and farmsteads against unfavorable climatic 
conditions. Wood cut from them brings only about 1 percent of 
total farm returns. 
In the southern belt, the woods occupy 19 percent of the average 
farm area, and contribute only about 5 percent of total farm returns. 
They are, in the true sense, farm woods. More than 80 percent of 
the woodlands are grazed, although they offer poor pasturage and 
this practice causes the timber stands to deteriorate. 
In the northern belt, woods occupy 48 percent of the average 
farm area, and woods products bring 12 percent of total farm returns. 
Here farming income alone is insufficient for most of the rural popu- 
lation, and half the farmers seek part-time employment outside 
farming. 
Out of a regional total of some 600,000 farms, about 456,000, or 
76 percent, have farm woods. Average area of woodland on these 
wooded farms is 33 acres. For the south the average is 27 acres, in 
the west 29, and in the north 48. 
Standing timber on farms, including growing stock, amounts to 
some 13.8 billion board feet of sawlogs and 82 million cords of other 
wood, an average of 30 M board feet and 180 cords per wooded farm 
or 913 board feet and 51% cords per acre of woodland. 
Farm woods contribute more than half of all the timber cut an- 
nually in the Lake States—835 million board feet and 7.8 million 
cords. They supply nearly one-fourth of the raw materials used by 
the forest industries of the region—488 million board feet and 92,000 
cords annually. 
The value of the timber cut on farms amounts to about $44,000,000 
per year, an average of $96 per wooded farm or $2.92 per acre of 
woodland. The present low returns are due to improper utilization 
and marketing of timber and the depleted condition of timber stands, 
resulting largely from grazing and overcutting. 
Well-managed farm woodlands in the Lake States are capable 
of yielding annual returns of $5 or more per acre. Where cooperative 
timber management and marketing are economically feasible, they 
can often increase the prices obtained for woods products by 25 to 
50 eee: 
Ithough attention to farm forestry as a part of agricultural pro- 
grams has increased in recent years, there is need for additional public 
effort, viz: (1) Education of woodland owners and technical assist- 
ance to promote better farm-forestry practice; (2) better utilization 
and marketing, especially through farmers’ cooperative efforts; (3) 
some measure of public control over timberlands to prevent devasta- 
tion and to keep the lands reasonably productive; (4) farm-forest 
research to provide basic facts. 
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