Dear Villageseer,

First off, are these trees still available, if so, email me.

Secondly, i have read through your post and having been in the poles business for the last 8 years i can assure you there is no such monopoly at KPLC or REA.... rather there seems to be a misconception on pricing paid by KPLC and the rate at which the Hybrid Eucalyptus grows:

1. It takes a tree ( Grandis or Grandis Hybrid) a minimum of 8 years in a heavy rainfall area to mature to KPLC spec poles - which is a minimum of 10M length and a top diameter of 160mm ( top diameter must be without bark and allow for shrinkage) so to be safe you go with a 170mm top diameter on a standing tree.

2. The spacing of trees when planted must be a minimum of 2.5M x 2.5M averaging 1600 stems per hectare. Again spacing is determined by location of planting. Drier areas may require a 3mx3m spacing.

3. 30% of trees planted will most likely not survive to maturity, from the remaining 70% of surviving trees only about 30% -40% will qualify for poles, the rest will not make the specs...either too thin or too crooked etc This is the general rule of thumb, if you are able to achieve this then you are doing well.

4. The selling price of a raw tree or pole will average around Kshs 4000 per tree today, why Shs 4000 and not Shs 12,000-16000 like you read about in the papers? Answer is simple, you cannot cut a tree and deliver it to KPLC - it has to be treated first ( the process of treating can take up to 5 hours under high pressure - not simply dipping the pole in green chemicals). This is where the treatment plants come in, so the price most farmers see is the Kshs 12,000 which can be misleading- this price is for a TREATED pole delivered to KPLC not a raw pole. Furthermore, treatment plants have to warranty the pole for 25 years.

I hope this clarifies some misconceptions as is commonly found in the newspapers.

Regards
Fash

As @fizash explained in post #31, tree farming isn't an easy enterprise. Only brokers like nyanja make easy money. The farmer bears all the risk.

@amorphous,if you have a sizeable land, esp in your favourite DC, you can explore Accaia farming for firewood and "legal" Charocal burning. A good Accacia variety can mature in 5 yrs for harvest.In between you can do bee keeping and harvest honey. See link below for motivation
https://www.nation.co.ke...the-tree-to-grow-189702

From the KFS pamphlet you gave on post #48:



You will have to wait for 28ys (upto 2048 AD) to sell your timber and would have made about 6k per month per acre. Also note that areas receiving > 800mm rain where cypress would do well are high potential areas in the highlands not the arid dustbowl where the only tree that grows there is the dwarf thorn acacia. Good luck.