For you timber guys, would 1 yr old loblolly seedlings that are stunted due to very high water table ever grow into a quality tree (assuming they survive)? This is blackbelt prairie type soil. Trees have grown very little since planted and are very light green to yellowish in color.
The site should have been bedded, but it wasn't.

Meant to add, a lot of them have developed sort of a cluster crown with multiple buds, rather than a single dominant stem.

I would call my county forester and let them give an opinion after looking at the area and trees. It doesn't sound good tho. How many acres?

Good advice, thanks. 55 acres.

I'm not a forestor, but I know there some prairie soils, the kind of yellow looking stuff with a very high ph, that a pine tree will not survive in. Only trees that will grow in that stuff are eastern red cedars and Osage orange(mock orange, bodock, etc)

Yes they will be fine imo. They grow in rocks even

If they don't have a dark green color, that's not good. There's a reason pines don't naturally grow in that dark chalky soil naturally. They're not well suited for it like cedars, hackberries, hickories, and bodock trees are.

A very good looking 30 yr old loblolly stand was cut from this tract 2 years ago, so the site will grow them. Those had been bedded, but there's not much of a mound left. When it was replanted, they just used the same rows. My main question is, if they do survive, would the early stunting affect the quality of tree years down the road or would loblolly typically overcome it and not be an issue later on?

I'm thinking I'll just see what they look like come mid summer and if not much better just bed it, and replant.

Pine trees Grow Extremely slow in prairie soils .

They can recover fine. We have had very wet conditions since they have been planted.