A:The purpose of most thinning operations are: remove suppressed, diseased trees and reduce stems/ac to encourage continued growth on the remaining stems.

In a 3rd row thinning operation you take out 33% of the stems when you remove the cutout row, in a 5th row thinning operation you remove 20% of the stems when you remove the cutout row. If your timber stand is well stocked, with little disease or stem quality issues, then either a 3rd or 5th row operation may be suitable.

If you have an initial low stocking rate or have an above average amount of diseased and inferior trees, you would probably want to go with a 5th operation. The reason for this is that taking out only every 5th row vs. every 3rd row allows you more choices when selecting which trees from the remaining rows to harvest.

Sometimes there are also site or contractor equipment type issues to consider. I personally like 5th row operations in most instances as I like to have more control over which trees are harvested from the remaining rows. The quality of your 1st and/or 2nd thinning will have a large impact on the overall return of your timber investment.

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Chuck Mathis,
AFM Regional Manager: MS, AL, & FL
Bonifay, Florida
(850) 547-2534
chuck.mathis@amforem.biz

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