COMPONENT TWO – BUILDING A CASE FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE WOODLANDS
Case 3: C & D Osbourne Farms Background The Osbourne woodlot is located in Bainsville, Eastern Ontario, and consists of 37.07 acres. Osbourne Land Use and Forest Description Land Use
Description
Timber, fuel wood and maple syrup
Hectares (Acres) 15.01 (37.07)
Economic Analysis of Osbourne Case For the purpose of this analysis, the gross margin calculations were conducted for the following:
Timber sales Fuelwood sales Maple syrup sales (no revenue data was provided)
Using the economic data collected in the Osbourne interviews, the net present value of all sources of earnings from the woodlots was assessed. To understand the opportunity cost of the woodlot, a corn, soybean, wheat rotation in eastern Ontario was simulated for comparison. The purpose of this exercise was to compare the results to crop production during the span of years where there was woodlot harvested. The economic analysis conducted for the Osbourne case illustrates that between the periods of 1984 to 2004, the Osbourne’s generated a total of approximately $68,400 in revenue from timber and fuelwood sales (in 2004 dollars, assuming a 5% compound rate). There were no costs incurred for the harvests as all costs were incurred by Domtar Inc’s Woodlot Management Agreement program. Given the 37.07 acres of woodlot, the Haverstock’s total earnings were approximately $1,845/acre (between 1984 and 2004), assuming a 5% compound rate. The results using 7.5% and 10% equated to $2,559/acre and $3,593/acre respectively (see Appendix B for the complete tables). Note that there was also maple syrup production, but no data was provided.
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