Byromville, GA |

Forestry is a significant industry in Georgia, representing the state’s fourth-largest commodity, with a farm gate value of more than 700 million dollars annually. While it might be one of many states considered the wood basket of the country, Georgia stands out above the rest.

“Just like agriculture, forestry is one of our top industries. Not only the top industry in the state, but Georgia is the number one state for forestry. We produce the most seedlings of any other forestry organization,” says Jeff Fields, Chief of Reforestation for the GA Forestry Commission.

That all begins at operations like Flint River Nursery, where the lengthy process of extracting the seed and getting it into the ground gets underway.

“So, at this facility, we have our own seed orchards. We harvest the pinecones from those trees. Those cones are then taken to our seed extractory. That’s where the cones are tumbled, and the seed comes out of the cones. They are processed up there and we sow these seeds in these long beds here. There’s about sixty thousand seedlings in each bed,” says Fields.

This time of year, nurseries like this are working around the clock, getting those seedlings out of the ground and shipped off to growers all over the state.

“Once these trees mature, over the course of the year, during the winter months, we will harvest them. The harvester comes through, lifts all these trees up, takes them inside, sorts, bundles them up, and sends them out to landowners. Any landowner in the state of Georgia can plant these seedlings on their property,” says Fields.

With their product going to areas across the state, Flint River grows more than twenty different varieties, each with its own purpose.

“So, the loblolly pine mostly goes north of the fall line, which is a line that goes from Columbus, Georgia to Augusta, Georgia. So, mainly, the north part of the state is where these particular seedlings are planted. We have some, what we call, some slash pine that is planted south of that fall line. We’re actually standing south of the fall line now in this nursery. We also produce a lot of hardwood seedlings that produce acorns. Acorns are really good for wildlife, deer, turkey, and just any kind of animal that may be on your land that you want to attract. So, there are lots of different purposes for the different varieties of the seedlings that we grow,” says Fields.

It’s not just timber being produced with all these trees, but also products that will affect people’s everyday lives.

“The cellulose that comes from the trees makes, goes into plastic to make football helmets, toothpaste, there’s all sorts of products that you would never dream of that come from trees. It’s very exciting,” says Fields.

By: Damon Jones