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Containerized Nursery Start-up Costs

Informally Refereed

Abstract

About 4 years ago, I seriously began to entertain the idea of opening a containerized forestry nursery. During this period, some of the timberland owned by American Forest Seed Service near Auburn University's Solon Dixon Forestry Center, located in Andalusia, AL, was being used for three out-planting test plots. The test plots compared growth rates between bareroot and containerized longleaf seedlings. Dr. Ken McNabb, a member of the Auburn University Forestry Staff, was in charge of this student research project. During one of his visits, I expressed an interest in growing longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings and asked his opinion of the possible start-up cost of a containerized nursery. He discouraged me, stating that it was an extremely high-cost business venture with a minimum start-up cost of approximately $250,000. Well, let me now confirm his statement...he was right. I only wish $250,000 were all I had invested in my start-up cost.

Parent Publication

Citation

Edwards, Mike. 2002. Containerized Nursery Start-up Costs. In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-56. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. p. 8-10
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/5038