1

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014 Resource Update FS-173

This resource update provides 

an overview of timber 

product output (TPO) 

and use in Nebraska based 

on questionnaires designed to determine the size and 

composition of the State’s primary wood-using industry, 

its use of roundwood, and its generation and disposition 

of wood residues. This study was a cooperative effort 

between the Nebraska Forest Service (NFS) and the Forest 

Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern 

Research Station (NRS) of the USDA Forest Service. The 

NFS surveyed all known primary wood-using mills and FIA 

processed and analyzed the survey responses. Mill responses 

from earlier TPO studies, or other ancillary data, were used 

for any mills that did not respond to the 2014 TPO survey. 

This update presents results from the 2014 survey with 

comparisons to the 2009 survey. Supplemental data tables 

with additional information can be found at https://doi.

org/10.2737/FS-RU-173.

The data were accessed from the FIA database in August 

2017. Certain terms used in this report—retained, export, 

import, production, and receipts—have specialized 

meanings and relationships unique to the FIA program that 

surveys timber product output (Fig. 1).

Overview

Primary Mills

In 2014, Nebraska’s primary wood-using industry 

included 38 sawmills, 1 veneer mill, and 3 mills that 

produced other products including posts, poles, and 

excelsior (Fig. 2, Table 1).

Total active mills decreased by 31 percent. The losses 

included 16 small saw mills that produced less than 1 

million board feet; 2 large sawmills mills that produced 

over 5 million board feet; and 2 post, pole, and piling 

mills. Most of the State’s sawmills were are located in 

the Eastern Forest Inventory Unit (Fig. 2).

Forest Service

Northern Research Station

October 2018

United States Department of Agriculture

Figure 1.—Diagram of the movement of industrial roundwood.

Figure 2.—Primary wood-using mills, Nebraska, 2014.

Exports

Roundwood volume 

transported to mills

outside the state.

Retained

Roundwood volume 

processed by mills in

the state in which it is 

harvested.

Imports

Roundwood volume 

received from other

states.

Production

Roundwood volume 

harvested within the state 

(both retained and 

exported).

Receipts

Roundwood volume 

processed by mills within 

the state (both retained

and imported).

Production = Retained + Exports Receipts = Retained + Imports

Industrial Roundwood Receipts

Receipts at Nebraska primary wood-using mills totaled about 

2.5 million ft3

, with 2.1 million ft3 coming from Nebraska 

forest lands. An additional 326,000 ft3

 were imported 

primarily from forests lands of Iowa and South Dakota. Total 

softwood receipts decreased by 12,000 ft3

 (3 percent) and 

hardwood receipts decreased by 1.7 million ft3

 (45 percent) 

since the last survey was conducted in 2009.
2

Figure 3.—Industrial roundwood production by softwoods and 

hardwoods, and survey year, Nebraska.

Change

2006 2009 2014 2009-2014

Number of primary wood-using mills 54 61 42 -31.1

Industrial roundwood production–MCFa 6,135 4,079 2,433 -40.3

Saw log production–MBFb 29,470 18,444 10,199 -44.7

Industrial roundwood receipts–MCFa 4,339 3,659 2,008 -45.1

Saw log receipts–MBFb 22,890 19,259 10,665 -44.6

Growing-stock removals from timberland for industrial roundwood–MCFa 6,829 4,553 2,640 -42.0

Sawtimber removals from timberland for industrial roundwood–MBFb 37,555 25,189 14,394 -42.9

Wood material harvested for industrial roundwood–MCFa 8,341.4 5,610.1 3,293.9 -41.3

Harvest residue generated by industrial roundwood harvesting–MCFa 2,207 1,523 861 -43.5

Residues produced at primary wood-using mills, in thousand green tons 71.98 68.39 40.1 -41.4 a Thousand cubic feet.

b Thousand board feet, International 1⁄4-inch Rule.

Industrial Roundwood Production

Industrial roundwood production decreased by 40 

percent, or 1.6 million ft3, between surveys (Fig. 3). Of the 

2.4 million ft3 of industrial roundwood produced from 

Nebraska’s forests, roughly 88 percent, or 2.1 million ft3, 

was processed at Nebraska mills. About 292,000 ft3 were 

exported to primary mills in other states. Missouri mills 

received about 72 percent of industrial roundwood 

exports. Eighty-one percent of the industrial roundwood 

harvested from Nebraska’s forest land was hardwood 

species. Cottonwood accounted for 77 percent of the total 

volume processed in the State. Other species of importance 

to the forest products industry were eastern redcedar, 

white oak group, ash, red oak group, basswood, and 

ponderosa pine (Fig. 4).

Primary Timber Industry

Saw Log Receipts

Nebraska saw log receipts totaled 10.6 million board feet 

(bf) in 2014, a decrease of 45 percent from 2009. Softwood 

saw log receipts increased by 59 percent, from 511,000 bf 

in 2009 to 811,000 bf in 2014; while hardwood receipts 

decreased by 47 percent, from 19,000 bf in 2009 to 10,000 

bf in 2014. Cottonwood and eastern red cedar accounted 

for 93 percent of the total receipts at Nebraska saw mills in 

2014.

Saw Log Production

Saw logs represented 67 percent of the total industrial 

roundwood production in 2014. Production of saw logs 

decreased by 45 percent or 8.2 million bf between 2009 and 

2014. In 2014, cottonwood and black walnut accounted for 

84 percent of the total harvest of saw logs from Nebraska’s 

forests. Other important species/species groups harvested 

were eastern redcedar, white oaks, and red oaks.

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014

Figure 4.—Industrial roundwood production for the ten most voluminous 

species or groups, Nebraska 2014.

Table 1.—Summary of the Nebraska timber industry, 2006, 2009, and 2014

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

1993 2000 2006 2009 2014

Industrial Roundwood Production 

(1,000 ft3)

Year

Softwoods Hardwoods

1,616

478

202

40

23

20

13

11

10

9

0 500 1,500 2,000

Basswood Soft 

maple

Ponderosa pine

Elm

Red oak group

Ash

White oak group

Black walnut

Cedar/juniper

Cottonwood

1,000

Volume (1,000 ft3)

Species Group
3

Figure 5.—Distribution of timber removals for industrial roundwood by 

source of material, Nebraska, 2014.

Other Products

Production of veneer logs from Nebraska’s forests 

amounted to 141,000 ft

3

, a decrease from the 319,000 ft3

harvested in 2009. Logs harvested for excelsoir/shavings 

use also decreased between surveys, going from 823,000 

ft

3

 in 2009 to 593,000 ft3 in 2014. Logs harvested for post, 

poles and pilings increased between surveys form 9,000 ft3 

in 2009 to 61,000 ft3 in 2014.

Timber Removals

During the harvest of industrial roundwood from 

Nebraska’s forests in 2014, 2.4 million ft3 of wood material 

from growing stock (e.g., sawtimber and pole timber) and 

non-growing stock (e.g., limb wood, saplings, cull trees, 

nonforest trees, dead trees) was used for primary wood 

products and another 861,000 ft3 of wood material from 

growing stock (e.g., logging residue) and non-growing 

stock (e.g., logging slash) was left on the ground as harvest 

residues (Fig. 5). Growing-stock sources, at 2.6 million ft3, 

were the largest component of removals for industrial 

roundwood production. Eighty-six percent of the growingstock volume removed and used for products came from 

sawtimber-size trees, 3 percent from pole-size trees, and 

11 percent was left as logging residue.

In 2014, 654,000 ft3 of non-growing-stock wood material 

was removed in the production of industrial roundwood, 

but only 11 percent of this material was used for products 

and the remainder was left on the ground as logging slash. 

Forty-five percent of the non-growing-stock material 

used for industrial roundwood came from cull trees, 34 

percent from nonforest trees, 11 percent from sapling trees, 

6 percent from limbs of growing-stock trees, and the other 

4 percent from dead trees.

Figure 6.—Harvest intensity for industrial roundwood production, Nebraska, 2014.

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014

Harvest Intensity

Statewide in 2014, average annual net growth (gross growth 

minus mortality) and removals of live trees on forest land 

averaged 35 ft

3

/acre and 20 ft3 acre, respectively (Miles 2017). 

Only five counties had more than 15 ft3 of total live trees 

volume removed per acre of forest land (Fig. 6). (For 

reference, a cord of roundwood contains about 79 ft3 of 

wood.)

In 2014, there were over 1.6 million acres of forest land in 

Nebraska (Meneguzzo and Crocker 2014). The net volume in 

live trees on forest land was over 2 billion ft3. The 3.3 million 

ft

3

 of total wood material harvested was less than 1 percent of 

the total live volume of trees on forest land in Nebraska.

The Eastern Forest Inventory Unit had a harvest intensity in 

2014 of 2.9 ft3 of total wood removals per acre of forest land. 

The Western Unit had roughly 0.68 ft3 of total wood removals 

per acre of forest land in 2014.

69% 3%

2%

18%

8%

Utilized-Industrial 

Roundwood Sawtimber size

Utilized-Industrial 

Roundwood Poletimber size

Utilized-Industrial 

Roundwood Saplings, 

limbwood, cull, non-forest 

treesand dead trees

Not Utilized-Harvest Residues

Logging slash

Not Utilized-Harvest Residues

Logging residue
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Primary Mill Residues

In converting industrial roundwood into products, such as 

lumber, Nebraska’s primary wood-using

industries generated over 40,000 green tons of wood (coarse 

and fine residues) and bark residue. Fifty-one percent of the 

mill residues were from coarse wood residue (e.g., slabs and 

edgings residue). Fine wood residue (e.g., sawdust) made 

up another 28 percent. Bark accounted for the remaining 21 

percent (Fig.7).

Mulch, animal bedding, residential fuel, industrial fuel and 

miscellaneous uses (e.g., small dimension, charcoal and 

specialty items) accounted for 47, 29, 10, 1, and 1 percent, 

respectively, of the end-use of mill residues generated by the 

primary wood processors in Nebraska (Fig. 8). Eleven 

percent 

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014

of mill residues went unused in 2014. Fifty-five percent of the 

fine residue was used for animal bedding, and mulch products 

consumed 55 percent of the coarse residue and 67 percent of 

the total bark residues produced by the milling operations 

across the state.

Literature Cited

Miles, P.D. 2017. Forest Inventory EVALIDator webapplication, version 1.6.0.03A. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. https://apps.fs.fed.

us/Evalidator/evalidator.jsp (accessed Aug. 16, 2017).

Meneguzzo, D.M.; Crocker, S.J. 2015 Forests of Nebraska, 

2014. Resource Update FS-50. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research 

Station. 5 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-50.

Figure 7.—Distribution of residues generated by primary woodusing mills by type of residue, Nebraska, 2014.Figure 8.—Distribution of residues generated by primary woodusing mills by method of disposal, Nebraska, 2014.

Bark

21%

Coarse

51%

Fine

28%

Industrial fuel

1% Residential fuel

11%

Mulch

47%

Animal bedding

29%

Miscellaneous

1%

Not

used

11%

How to Cite This Publication

Haugen, David E.; Piva, Ronald J.; Smith, Adam. 2018. 

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014. Resource Update 

FS-RU-173. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 

6 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-173.

Supplemental Tables

Data tables to accompany this report are available at 

https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-173

Contact Information

David E. Haugen, Forester

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station

1992 Folwell Ave.

St. Paul, MN 55108

Ph: 651-649-5137

Fax: 651-649-5140

dhaugen01@fs.fed.us

Northern FIA: http://nrs.fs.fed.us/fia/

National FIA: http://fia.fs.fed.us
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Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014

Common and scientific names of tree species in Nebraska by TPO species group 

Softwoods

Cedar/juniper

Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana

Rocky Mountain Juniper Juniperus scopulorum

Lodgepole pine

Lodgepole pine Pinus contorta

Ponderosa

Ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa

White pine

Eastern white pine Pinus strobus

Other pine species Pinus spp.

Hardwoods

Ash

White ash Fraxinus americana

Green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Basswood

American basswood Tilia americana

Beech

American beech Fagus grandifolia

White (paper) birch

White (paper) birch Betula papyrifera

Black cherry

Black cherry Prunus serotina

Black walnut

Black walnut Juglans nigra

Sycamore

American sycamore Platanus occidentalis

Cottonwood

Eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides

Elm

American elm Ulmus americana

Siberian elm Ulmus pumila

Slippery elm Ulmus rubra

Rock elm Ulmus thomasii

Hickory

Pecan Carya illinoensis

Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis

Shagbark hickory Carya ovata

Soft maple

Boxelder Acer negundo

Silver maple Acer saccharinum

Red oak

Northern red oak Quercus rubra

Black oak Quercus velutina

White oak

Bur oak Quercus macrocarpa

Chinkapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii

Other hardwoods

Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra

Ailanthus Ailanthus altissima

American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana

Northern catalpa Catalpa speciose

Sugarberry Celtis laevigata

Hackberry Celtis occidentalis

Flowering dogwood Cornus florida

Hawthorn species Crataegus spp.

Honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos

Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus

Osage-orange Maclura pomifera

Apple species Malus spp.

White mulberry Morus alba

Red mulberry Morus rubra

Eastern hophornbeam Ostrya virginiana

Chokecherry Prunus virginiana

Wild plum Prunus spp.

Black locust Robinia pseudoacacia

Black willow Salix nigra

Peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides

Bebb willow Salix bebbiana
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Definition of Terms

Growing-stock removals. The growing-stock volume removed 

from timberland by harvesting industrial roundwood products. 

(Note: Includes sawtimber removals, poletimber removals, and 

logging residues.)

Growing-stock tree. A live timberland tree of commercial species 

that meets specified standards of size, quality, and merchantability. 

(Note: Excludes rough, rotten, and dead trees.)

Growing-stock volume. Net volume of growing-stock trees 

5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger, from 1 foot above the ground to a 

minimum 4.0-inch top diameter outside bark of the central stem 

or to the point where the central stem breaks into limbs.

Harvest residues. The total net volume of unused portions of trees 

cut or killed by logging. (Note: Includes both logging residues and 

logging slash.)

Industrial roundwood exports. The quantity of industrial 

roundwood harvested in a geographical area and transported to 

other geographical areas.

Industrial roundwood imports. The quantity of industrial 

roundwood received from other geographical areas.

Industrial roundwood products. Saw logs, pulpwood, 

veneer logs, poles, commercial posts, pilings, cooperage logs, 

particleboard bolts, shaving bolts, lath bolts, charcoal bolts, and 

chips from roundwood used for pulp or board products.

Industrial roundwood production. The quantity of industrial 

roundwood harvested in a geographic area plus all industrial 

roundwood exported to other geographical areas.

Industrial roundwood receipts. The quantity of industrial 

roundwood received by commercial mills in a geographic area plus 

all industrial roundwood imported from other geographical areas.

Industrial roundwood retained. The quantity of industrial 

roundwood harvested from and processed by commercial mills 

within the same geographical area.

Limbwood removals. Net volume of all portions of a tree other 

than the central stem (including forks, large limbs, tops, and 

stumps) harvested for industrial roundwood products.

Logging residue. The net volume of unused portions of the 

merchantable central stem of growing-stock trees cut or killed by 

logging.

Logging slash. The net volume of unused portions of the 

unmerchantable (non-growing-stock) sections of trees cut or 

killed by logging.

Poletimber. A growing-stock tree at least 5.0 inches d.b.h. but 

smaller than sawtimber size (9.0 inches d.b.h. for softwoods, 11.0 

inches d.b.h. for hardwoods).

Primary wood-using mills. Mills receiving roundwood or chips 

from roundwood for processing into products such as lumber, 

veneer, and pulp.

Primary wood-using mill residue. Wood materials (coarse and 

fine) and bark generated at manufacturing plants that process 

industrial roundwood into principal products. These residues 

include wood products obtained incidental to production of 

principal products and wood materials not utilized for some 

product.

Rotten tree. A tree that does not meet regional merchantability 

standards because of excessive unsound cull.

Rough tree. A tree that does not meet regional merchantability 

standards because of excessive sound cull (includes forks, 

sweep and crook, and large branches or knots), including 

noncommercial tree species.

Roundwood. Logs, bolts, or other round sections cut from trees 

(including chips from roundwood).

Sapling. A live tree between 1.0 and 5.0 inches d.b.h.

Sawtimber removals. As used in Table 10, sawtimber removals 

refers to the net volume in the merchantable central stem 

of sawtimber-size trees harvested for industrial roundwood 

products. (Note: includes the saw log and upper stem portions of 

sawtimber-size trees.) When referring to the sawtimber volume 

removed from timberland as in Table 12, sawtimber removals 

refers to the net volume in the saw log portion of sawtimber-size 

trees harvested for roundwood products or left on the ground as 

harvest residue, and is usually expressed in thousands of board 

feet (International 1⁄4-inch rule).

Sawtimber tree. A growing-stock tree containing at least a 

12-foot saw log or two noncontiguous saw logs 8 feet or longer, 

and meeting regional specifications for freedom from defect. 

Softwoods must be at least 9.0 inches d.b.h. and hardwoods must 

be at least 11.0 inches d.b.h.

Nebraska Timber Industry, 2014

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