In my little area of the state (pike co) you can still buy dirt for $1000-$1200/acre. You have to look hard but its still out there. This is cutover land, no timber value, not improved pasture. If its 4-5 yo cutover, plan on $200/acre to have it windrowed. I have a boomless setup that I use to spray with my tractor, so I get to save part of the $110/acre for chemical site prep. I will still have the chemical costs which were around $40/acre if I remember correctly. Plan on $86/acre for mechanical planting, not including seedlings. Loblolly elite seedling from Arborgen run about $80/1000. At 605 trees/acre this adds nearly $50/acre to the $86/acre for the dozers. I have a tract being windrowed right now and it looks good enough I think I can re-plant it using my tractor and tree planter.

I doubt converting the land to pasture would cost more than what I will have in the site prep and cleanup as the crew windrowing right now is doing an excellent job. But I know I don't have time to raise cows or hay production. Definitely not enough tie for row crops. So in my situation timber is the only alternative that "should" give me some return on investment.

I should have less than $300/acre in the site prep and planting of this stand of trees, assuming I am able to do the planting and spraying with my equipment. Hopefully I will get that back at the first thinning. Then I should have a 2nd thinning and a clear cut that should cover the cost of the land purchase and hopefully some profit.

Now for the real important part. Lord willing I will re-plant after I clear cut then give this tract to my kids with young seedlings already on it. They will reap the real financial benefits. And along the way I will have had the pleasure of hunting/land management.