Dr. Bob Daniels, extension forestry specialist at Mississippi State University, compiled the harvest data based on severance tax reports from the Mississippi State Tax Commission. South Mississippi markets are stronger and more competitive. It has been just within the last 10 years that competition has increased in North Mississippi. The state's major timber products are sawlogs, pulpwood and pine poles. Sawlogs generally are cut into lumber or used to manufacture plywood.
Pulpwood is used to make chips for pulp and paper manufacturing.
Poles are high-valued pine stems used for transmission and utility poles or piles used in heavy construction. Clarke County was the leading pulpwood producer with 336,060 cords. Kemper County was a close second with 317,903 cords. Clarke and Kemper counties swapped first and second places in pulpwood production, with Kemper first in pine and Clarke first in hardwood. Other top pine pulpwood producing counties were Wayne, Lincoln and Copiah.