Forestry, sample survey of agriculture and forestry (discontinued), 1999, preliminary figures

Preliminary figures from the Census of agriculture and forestry 2000 shows that there were more than 120 000 properties with at least 25 decares of productive forestland in Norway. The total productive forest area of these properties has been calculated at 68.7 million decares.

One-fifth cut for sale

Commercial logging was done on 21 per cent of the properties in 1999. A total of 7.8 million m³ was cut, working out to an average of 302 m³ per property with roundwood for sale.

Forty per cent of the properties did commercial logging at least once in the course of the last five years. Several factors affect how often logging is done. The larger the property, the more frequently it is logged. There are also county variations. In Vestfold, two-thirds of the forest owners did logging on their properties at least once in the course of this period.

Large properties - large falling area

Of the total cut for sale, 89 per cent came from final cutting, 9 per cent from thinning and 2 per cent from logging of windfall, crop and shelter trees. The falling areas of clear-cuts were the largest on the large forestry properties, 31 decares on properties with at least 20 000 decares of productive forest area, against only 8 decares on properties with less than 100 decares of productive forest area.

Properties with more than 2 000 decares of productive forest area took out a larger portion of the quantity from thinning than the smaller properties did.

Contractors did most of the logging

In 1999, 67 per cent of the total quantity for sale was logged with logging machines. The percentage was higher on large rather than small properties. In Oslo and Akershus, 80 per cent of all roundwood for sale was cut with logging machines, while the corresponding figure in Møre og Romsdal was only 7 per cent.

On a national basis forest owners and unpaid family members logged 16 per cent of the quantity, while contractors accounted for 78 per cent. The remainder was cut with hired help.

More than two-thirds of the roundwood was removed with forwarders, while barely a quarter was removed with farm tractors with winches. In Møre og Romsdal, only 7 per cent of the cut was removed with forwarders, while the corresponding figure for Hedmark was 85 per cent.

Seventy-eight per cent of the cut was removed by contractors, while forest owners and unpaid family members accounted for 18 per cent, and paid hired help 4 per cent.

Contractors carried out a larger portion of the cut and land transport on large rather than small properties.

Lower operating costs

The price of logging and land transport dibe by contractors was lower in 1999 than four years ago. In 1999 contractors took an average of NOK 110 per m³ for final cutting and NOK 165 per m³ for thinning. In 1995 the corresponding prices were NOK 118 and 175 per m³ respectively.

Final cutting by contractors in 1999 was cheapest in Hedmark, where it cost NOK 91 per m³, while it was most expensive in Troms, Finnmark and Hordaland, with NOK 170 per m³. The smaller the productive forest area, the higher the operating costs were for final cutting.

Tables:

• Table 1 Properties, by size of productive forest area
• Table 2 Removals for sale, by type and method of felling. 1999. Per cent
• Table 3 Removals for sale in 1999, by labour category. Per cent
• Table 4 Removals of roundwood for sale, by method of hauling. 1999. Per cent
• Table 5 Removals of roundwood for sale, by labour category of hauling. 1999. Per cent
• Table 6 Properties, by number of years with removals for sale in the course of the last five years. Per cent
• Table 7 Expenditure for cutting and hauling, by type of felling in 1997. Kroner per m³