STARKVILLE, Miss. — Although prices for timber were lower in 2024, harvest on the state’s forest land was up about 8%, giving forestry an expected value of $1.5 billion, similar to what it had in 2023. Because soybeans saw a fairly significant decrease in price, forestry regained the No. 2 agricultural commodity spot in Mississippi. …Eric McConnell, associate professor of forest business in the MSU Department of Forestry and Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said forestry was expected to harvest 36.6 million tons in 2024. The final number in 2023 was 33.8 million tons. “Mississippi prices trended up slightly each quarter, but prices on average were down in 2024 versus 2023,” McConnell said. “The overall value of production came in at $1.48 billion, same as last year. “There was $727.9 million paid to landowners for standing timber, while harvest and trucking added $756.4 million of value to the industry,” he said. Forestry is big business in the state, generating an estimated 84,000 jobs and $4.5 billion in income.