Landowners receive $22-29/ton for standing timber while mills sell it at $114/ton

Private timberland owners — who control 56% of US forestland — face extreme information asymmetry when selling timber. A landowner in Arkansas receives $22-29/ton for standing pine timber, while the same wood sells as finished lumber at $113.88/ton, a 4-5x markup where the landowner captures less than 25% of the final value. This matters because most private forest owners sell timber only once or twice in their lifetime, so they have zero market experience. They don't know current stumpage prices, can't evaluate bid quality, and often accept the first offer from a logger who knocks on their door. Studies show that hiring a consulting forester increases sale revenue enough to cover the consulting fee and still net more, yet most small landowners don't know this option exists. The problem persists because timber price reporting is fragmented across state forestry agencies with inconsistent methodologies, there is no Zillow-equivalent for timber valuation, and the buyer side (mills, loggers) has every incentive to maintain opacity since they repeat-purchase while sellers are one-time participants.