Southern Forestry Nursery Management Cooperative, or SFNMC, recently received recognition in ACRES Magazine, a publication distributed to New Holland tractor customers nationwide. Also featured were K & L Forest Nursery, active members of SFNMC since 2015. This 45-acre tree nursery specializes in hand-lifted, hand-graded and hand-packed slash, Coastal and Piedmont loblolly.
As members of the SFNMC, K & L Forest Nursery receive up-to-date research on seedlings and information to aid in their operations that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.
SFNMC boasts a strong presence across 11 Southeastern states, including private nurseries like K & L Forest Nursery, as well as timber companies and state forestry divisions. Collectively, SFNMC members supply an impressive 80% of the pine seedlings used for reforestation in the Southeast and they also contribute significantly to the bed space utilized in SFNMC research.
According to Nina Payne, a SFNMC staffer and Research Assistant at Auburn University, the Singleton family, owners of K & L Forest Nursery, exemplify the spirit of cooperation within SFNMC. “The Singletons put the cooperate in cooperative. They have never turned down a request for bed space.”
Payne actively conducts field research and shares vital insights with SFNMC members, concentrating on herbicide application, weed control and production matters within bareroot and container nurseries. As part of her research, she utilizes K & L Forest Nursery to evaluate herbicides borrowed from commercial agriculture, turf and ornamental industries.
For further information about SFNMC, which recently commemorated its 50th anniversary, please visit nurserycoop.auburn.edu.
(Written by Allison Killingsworth)
