Why the Ohio timber price report is misleading
What we're talking about
If you’re a landowner in Ohio, beware of the so-called “Timber Price Report.”
Every six months, the Ohio State University Extension publishes what they call the Ohio Timber Price Report – a document that compares statewide prices paid for saw logs and stumpage by species and grade.
On paper, it sounds like a helpful tool. But here’s the truth:
This report is deeply flawed, consistently incomplete, and widely abused.
Timber buyers use this report against you - not for you
Timber buyers often wave these reports in front of landowners, pointing to the “official” numbers as proof that their lowball offer is fair.
They’ll say:
“Well, the statewide average for Red Oak is $500 per thousand feet.”
“White Oak has dropped since this spring. You’d be lucky to get $700.”
But here’s what they won’t tell you
The sample size is a joke - and the survey's methodology is hidden
Each report includes a column titled “No. Rptg.” which is short for “Number Reporting”. This is how many mills or buyers actually submitted pricing data during the survey.
In the most recent July 2025 Report, here’s what you’ll find:
- Only 5 reporting mills statewide for Walnut
- Only 3 or fewer for most other species
Thousands of private timber sales are conducted every year in Ohio and none of them are reported to Ohio State University at all.
And OSU doesn’t disclose its methodology for gathering survey data, raising many questions, such as:
- How do they select sources?
- Why do they select so few sources?
- Do they sample the same sources, or different sources, every six months?
- How do they gauge the accuracy of the sale reports?
- Are any of the mills trolling the surveys?
It would be preposterous to use this shoddy report to learn the prices prices paid in the state’s $11.1 billion timber industry.
Those aren't market prices – those are just low-end buyer prices
These reports reflect the prices paid by the few mills who reported in the survey. When we run competitive timber sales for our clients, inviting 25-30 qualified buyers to bid, and letting the market set the price, we regularly see sale prices that are:
- 2x to 3x higher than what’s shown in the reports
- Veneer log bids that aren’t even captured in the report’s data
- Adjusted for species mix, volume, quality, and grade – not simple mean averages from just a few mills.
Here are the bids we received in a recent sale we conducted in Muskingum County.
Landowners deserve better
If you’re dealing with a buyer who quotes you prices “based on the Ohio Timber Price Report,” you’re not getting market value – you’re getting manipulated.
It’s a classic example of creating a false dilemma, by presenting the latest timber price report and a timber buyer’s slightly-higher offer as your only choices.
You have many more options than that, and when you have us working as your advocate, we:
- Find and grade every mature tree individually and build a full inventory
- Put your timber out for bid to a large number of reliable, ethical buyers
- Inform you of true sale prices, not poorly-conducted surveys and unreliable estimates
- Protect your land, your timber, and your financial outcome from predatory loggers who know far more about pricing timber than you do.
What you should do when you want to consider selling your timber
- Ignore the Timber Price Report -- or at least recognize it for what it is: an incomplete estimate based on too few sources.
- Get a competitive sale organized by an experienced consulting forester who works for you -- not the buyer.
- Contact us for a no-obligation timber evaluation and see what your stand is really worth.
- Minimum: 10 wooded acres or 50 mature trees.