2025 Indiana Consulting Foresters Stumpage Timber Price Report
This report is provided annually and is intended to be used as a general indicator of timber stumpage prices and activity in Indiana. There are many factors that determine the price of any individual timber sale, including tree species and quality, average tree volume, size of sale, ease of operability, access and yarding issues, proximity to markets, region of the State, availability of other timber in the area, number of bidders interested in the sale, season it can be logged, economic forecasts and many more. For this reason, the reported prices should not be considered as a guarantee of the value for any given sale. However, this report can be used as a general trend of timber sale prices and where the range would be for most sales meeting the same criteria. To best market your timber, it is recommended you contact a consultant forester that can evaluate your timber and the value in your specific area and markets.
To create the report a survey was made of all known professional consulting foresters in Indiana. Sales were reported from all areas of the State. Prices were reported from sealed bid timber sales (not negotiated sales) between a motivated seller and a licensed Indiana timber buyer. The data represents sales from January 1 to December 31, 2025. This survey has been conducted annually since 2001.
TIMBER SALE PRICE SURVEY
Timber sale categories: As in the past, sales were reported in three categories based on quality. A high-quality sale has more than 50 percent of the volume in #2 or better red oak, white oak, sugar maple, black cherry, black walnut or soft maple. A low-quality sale has more than 70 percent of the volume in #3 grade (low or pallet grade), or is cottonwood, beech, elm, sycamore, hackberry, pin oak, aspen, black gum, black locust, honeylocust, catalpa, sweetgum or pine. An average sale is a sale that is neither a high- or low-quality sale.
Survey responses: There were 17 consultants that reported prices this year. This is an increase from the 15 that reported last year and in the range of the 15 to 20 that have reported each year since 2015. There was an additional consultant that reported he had no bid sales this year. Prices were reported from 146 sales which is a decrease from the 160 sales from last year. The number of reported sales has been decreasing since 2014-15 from 368 that year to the lowest number reported this year. Since 2017-18 the number of reported sales has averaged 197 a year. Reported sale volumes has also been decreasing in recent years. In 2025 consultants reported sale volumes of 12,237,849 board feet. This is a slight decrease from last year’s 12,387,517 board feet but a steep decline from 2021’s 25,049,006 board feet reported. Total sale values, over all three categories, also decreased from last years $12,313,797 to $10,901,954 this year.
High quality sales: There were a total of 61 sales reported from 10 consultants in this category. That is a decrease from 81 sales reported by 13 respondents last year. Sale volumes ranged from a low of 11,067 board feet to a high of 234,699 board feet. The average high-quality sale was 69,037 board feet. The median volume was 47,907 board feet. The weighted average price of these sales was $1,294/MBF (thousand board feet). This price is nearly the same as last year’s $1,314MBF, a slight 1.5% decline. Prices in this category had increased 40% from 2019 to 2024 but it is too soon to know if this signals a leveling off of prices or not. After all, this year’s price is the second highest price in the history of the Report, barely behind last year’s record. The range of sale prices in this category went from a low of $470/MBF to a high of $4,460/MBF. This category typically has a wide range of values due to the extremely high prices paid for high quality walnut and white oak compared to other species or grades.
Medium quality sales: Sixteen consultants reported 72 sales in this category. This is only a decrease of one reported sale from last year. Sale volumes ranged from 7,330 board feet to 573,735 board feet and averaged 101,432 board feet per sale. The median sale volume was 64,811 board feet. These sales averaged $706/MBF. This is a new record in this category and a 4% increase over the previous high of 678/MBF last year. Since 2020 prices in this category have increased nearly 31% with 4 new records in that time span. The range of prices by sale went from a low of $358/MBF to a high of $1,342/MBF. This is a much tighter range on these prices than we have seen in a number of years.
Low quality sales: Five consultants reported 13 low quality sales. Both of these numbers are up from last year’s Report of three consultants and six sales. Sale volumes ranged from a low of 11,489 board feet to a high of 142,990 board feet. The average sale was 55,653 board feet and the median volume was 37,141 board feet. The sale prices ranged from a low of $276/MBF to a high of $699/MBF and averaged $411/MBF. This is a huge decrease of 37% from the historical high of $648/MBF in 2024.
Table 1. Summary of reported sales from January 1 to December 31, 2025
SURVEY RESPONSE DISCUSSION
Volume of timber sold: Reported timber volumes have been declining for a number of years. This year’s reported volume of 12,237,849 BF is about half of the reported 25,049,018 BF volume in 2021, though it is close to the volumes reported since 2022. But it is important to remember that a voluntary reporting of sales from across the state does not necessarily correlate to the total number of timber sales in the state. Timber is sold by other means that this survey does not capture. However, as the number of reported consultant sales have declined over the last few years there has been an increase in buyer comments that they were finding less timber to buy.
This dynamic may be changing however, as there are some indicators that buyers are finding timber to buy despite fewer sales reported by consultants. There may be other factors as well at play, including less demand as white oak markets have taken a step back and a lot of uncertainty in the markets overall. The last few years it seemed there was interest in nearly every sale offered and they usually brought higher than expected prices. It seems now that they are being more selective and not as aggressive on pricing for anything except high end sales containing valuable walnut or white oak
Value of timber sold: Average prices have been increasing across the board since 2021, culminating in all-time record highs for all three categories in 2024. Data from 2025 may indicate that is leveling off some, at least for now. A new record high was reported in the medium category, as the $706/MBF in 2025 was 4% higher than the previous high of $678/MBF. But the high-quality value of $1,294/MBF was a slight 1.5% decline from 2024. For statistical purposes this is nearly the same. The biggest difference was in the low-quality sales, as the 2025 value of $411/MBF was 37% below the 2024 value. However, this category may need a special mention as the 2024 value of $648/MBF was a 77% increase over the year before. Since there were only 6 low-quality sales reported in 2024 that number may have been affected by a statistical anomaly and an inadequate sample size. In other words, one sale that was out of the norm for whatever reason could have tilted the data outside the reasonable range of value, and wasn’t evened out by a larger number of sales. This is further indicated by the fact that the 2025 value is very close to the 2022 value of $420/MBF. See Figure 1.
Figure 1. Average sale price by year and category in $/1000BF.
Median values: In contrast to averages, which can be skewed by extremely low or high value outliers, median values may be a better indicator of timber value trends. The median values in 2025 however, tell a similar story as the average prices do. In all three categories the median prices in 2025 dropped slightly from their 2024 highs. For the high-quality sales, the 2025 median price of $1,235/MBF dipped below the previous high of $1,446 in 2024 by 15%. While the medium quality average increased over 2024, the median price of $639/MBF was just over 1% under the record $648 set in 2024. And the low-quality median price of $487/MBF in 2025 was 15% less than the 2024 median value of $571/MBF in 2024. See Figure 2.
Figure 2. Median sale price by year and category in $/1000BF.
Sale bids: The number of bidders on reported sales may be the most concerning news of all. Across all of the sale categories there were a total of 711 bids received for the 146 timber sales. This is an average of 4.87 bids per sale, a steep decline from last year’s 5.76 bids per sale. This is a 15% decline and the fewest number of bids per sale since 2022 when it was 4.42. For high quality sales the average number of bidders was 5.61. This is a 15% decline from the 6.57 bids per sale last year and the lowest number since 2022. Medium-quality sales in 2025 averaged 4.63 bids per sale, a 7% decline from the 4.97 in 2024 and the lowest number since 2023. Low-quality sales in 2025 averaged 2.77 bids per sale. This is a 36% decrease from the 4.33 bids in 2024 and the lowest bids per sale in this category since at least 2017. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. Average number of bids by category and survey year.
Discussion: Based on the timber sale data provided for this report, it appears that the rapid rise in timber prices of the last few years, in all categories, is slowing down and perhaps leveling off. However, it is important to note that prices are still extremely high, especially from a historical perspective. High quality and medium quality sales seem to be the steadiest right now, though the number of bidders has declined some. Low-quality sales appear to have taken a step back, both in prices and number of bidders. But even the low-quality sale prices are still strong historically.
It appears that this slow-down is driven by reduced demand, not increased supply. The troubles in the whiskey market and the corresponding reduced demand for staves has had a ripple effect on the white oak market, especially in southern Indiana. High quality white oak and walnut are still commanding good prices and interest, but lower quality white oak logs are getting more difficult to move. For a number of years almost any white oak attracted attention and strong bidding. Now it appears buyers are being more selective in what they are interested in and not as aggressive with pricing. Tariffs and their effect on international trade is also a factor. Retaliatory policies in response to tariffs put in place by the U.S. has impacted our hardwood exports. In 2024 Indiana exported $172,108,244 worth of logs, lumber and veneer (2024 Indiana Hardwood Export Statistics Update). This is an estimated 20% or more of the volume of timber cut off of Indiana forests in a year. Any disruption in these markets will have an effect throughout the industry, including stumpage values.
The reduced number of bidders may be as concerning as the leveling off of prices, which couldn’t have continued forever anyway. But fewer bidders mean reduced demand, less competition, fewer opportunities for forest management and reduced prices. Time will tell if these trends show a stabilization of the industry, the beginning of a decline or just a temporary blip before the markets pick up again.
CONSULTANT COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS
Note: These comments are the opinions of individuals from different parts of the State and with different markets. They may or may not be relevant to your situation. You should always discuss timber marking and marketing with your consultant to get the best information relating to your timber management.
“My number of sales was down from last year. It seems like I had fewer calls, but I was also busier with invasive work so I couldn't have handled any more work. I noticed the prices seemed to fall off for run of the mill saw timber in the past month or two. The number of bidders is good, but price on common timber seems to be backing off. One of my last sales had some really nice white oak and it did very well, but had I omitted the top two bids, the price would not have been very good. Buyers have expressed concern over the rising cost of operation and the decreasing price of lumber.”
“Due to an increased workload of other forestry practices (i.e. Brush Management, FSI, Appraisals, Management Plans, Rx Burns, etc.) throughout the year, time allotted for timber sales has decreased.”
“Not selling much timber these days. We are simply buried in EQIP and CSP practices.
- Overall sales were just less volume; had 4 negotiated sales due to primarily being Black Walnut. One customer prefers to work with only 1 logger, so while a bid process would have yielded client better price, they were okay with the negotiated price.
- West central demand for quality timber has continued to remain strong and prices holding steady.
- We feel optimistic about being able to sell timber at quality prices into 2026.”
“Overall timber prices were good. Black Walnut and White Oak prices were very good again this year. Lower quality timber did not get near as much interest but if you put up good quality timber then it would get more interest. I feel prices were swayed more this year from tariff concerns, especially black walnut. There seemed to be influxes of interest depending if China was allowed to buy. However, it was still at super prices throughout the year. White oak seemed to come off its highs but still good demand.”
“It was a slow timber sales year for us. Most of what we sold was heavy to white oak and brought decent prices. We held off on lower grade sales again, as in 2024, with the hope demand for pallet, crating and tie material would increase in 2026. Half of our sales were the result of a straight-line wind event and a tornado. These sales were negotiated and sold on 50:50 shares, as it was too dangerous for us climb thru the debris to scale trees. We collected mill tickets for our clients, which included volumes for grade and tonnage for pulp.”
“All of our walnut sales went very well.
It seemed that the hard maple was less in demand this year than most years so we didn't sell much this year.”
“Throughout the past year, anything having to do with export has been a mess for timber and log buyers. Most of the domestic markets have been a struggle, according to the buyers. I most recently heard from our regular bidders that China opened things back up for an undetermined amount of time to import logs/veneer again. This has led to crazy interest from Chinese buyers… particularly for black walnut. Apparently, it’s pretty cutthroat out there, lots of high bids on logs with some going from the normal $6-8/bf to more like $8-12/bf. Everyone expects this to end soon when China decides to close up the ports again. I heard similar stories last spring before the Tariffs were initially put in place, people rushing to fill containers and get them to China. This is creating headaches for domestic veneer producers in the short term and some of the timber buyers recognize that and don’t want to burn any bridges they’ll need when China shuts down again. White Oak veneer is also strong, apparently, but it sounds like the lumber market for White oak has been extremely unpredictable to the upside and downside. All the stave markets and mills shutting down in Kentucky and Southern Indiana have eliminated those higher price opportunities for moving #1 and #2 white oak logs in our region. We dodged a bullet when Europe delayed its new rules for tracking wood products to the stump, if and when they implement that it’s going to be a serious problem… but the proverbial can hath been kicked once again.”
“Ironically, we are not seeing any of this on the stump price side yet… with the exception of maybe black walnut veneer tree jobs. We did not sell any low value sales, so maybe we are not seeing the whole picture. Most buyers I talk to are still committed to paying the higher stumpage just to get the timber bought, but they continue to remind us of their struggles in moving the lumber and we are getting fewer bidders on sales that might have had twice as many bids in past years. At some point, with the constant boom/bust export markets, we may see even more industry consolidation. It seems in general, that log/lumber/veneer producers are chasing spot markets for profit, while eating some losses and keeping stumpage prices steady to maintain inventory and customers.”
“Murky, spotty and surprisingly steady despite the chaos. We sold a lot less than past years, maybe due to the uncertainty, definitely due to high demand for other services (invasive control), but ultimately all our sales did very well.”
“I fully expect more industry consolidation and less bids per sale in the future, but I do not think stumpage prices will lower significantly unless we enter an economic recession.”
Professional Consulting Foresters responding to this survey in alphabetical order: Arbor Terra (Mike Warner and Jennifer Boyle Warner), Bear Forestry (Abraham Bear), Chris Egloff, Florine Enterprises, LLC (Jake Florine), Gregg Forest Services (Mike Gregg), Haubry Forestry Consulting, Inc. (Rob Haubry), Habitat Solutions (Dan McGuckin), Haney Forestry, LLC (Stuart Haney), Meisberger Forestry, LLC (Matt Meisberger), Multi-Resource Management, Inc. (Doug Brown and Anthony Mercer), Thomas Pohl, Quality Forest Management, Inc. (Justin Herbaugh), Rooted In Forestry, LLC (Mike Denham and Andrew Suseland), Stambaugh Forestry (John Stambaugh), Steinkraus Forest Management (Jeff Steinkraus), Turner Forestry, Inc. (Stewart Turner) and Woodland Works (Nate Kachnavage).