©NC Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service estimates that the cone crop for longleaf pines in the Southeast will be “poor for 2025,” according to the “Longleaf Pine Cone Prospects for 2025”. Because of the anticipated seed shortage … the Longleaf Alliance is scouting for locations to harvest in the fall. Based on observations collected earlier this year … researchers estimate the average for seed-producing cones is 12.4 per tree this fall. The study …defines a good crop as 50 to 99 green cones per tree, a fair crop as 25 to 49, poor as 10 to 24, and a failed crop as less than 10 seed-bearing cones per tree. Once plentiful, the longleaf pine could be found on an estimated 90 million acres in the coastal plains between southeast Virginia to eastern Texas. … [but] demand grew exponentially when the turpentine industry took off, nearly stripping the ecosystem of the native pine. Today, its estimated that there’s around 5 million acres remaining.