AKELEY, Minn. — Sometimes trees can get in the way of a farm. Other times, the trees are the farm.
That’s the case for the Badoura State Forest Nursery, where about 15 million to 20 million trees are growing up to three years of age before they’re lifted from the ground and sold to public and private buyers all over the state of Minnesota. This state-owned nursery lies across a flat area of Minnesota known as the Central Sands where the ground is — as you might guess — very sandy. Conifers love to grow here and it shows. Outside the nursery are State Forests, State Scientific and Natural Areas and private tree farms devoted to the growth of trees for environmental, recreational or commercial purposes.
Ron Hamilton works at the nursery in a post-retirement position for the Minnesota DNR forestry division overseeing much of the spring lift activities. He’s worked in forestry for nearly 40 years, and you might say he’s farmed forests most of his life. At age 63, it’s likely he’ll never see the fruits of most of his labor. Sure, he’s seen millions of tree seeds planted and millions lifted as seedlings, but he’ll never see most of them reach an age where loggers will harvest them for their lumber.
“It’s probably as close to farming as you can get; it’s just a different timeframe,” Hamilton said.
Trees like the mighty white pine being dug up during a recent April 2024 lift, which can take 80 to 120 years to reach maturity, are planted by the thousands each year in the state. And it all starts with the seeds dried, stored, planted and grown into seedlings, which are dug, sorted and packaged prior to delivery in this complex historic property.
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“We can’t hire enough people to even touch this,” Hamilton said during a tour of the nursery. While there are a handful of Minnesota DNR staff working here year-round, dozens are hired part-time or contracted during the spring lift — the busiest time of the year. This year they relied heavily on a contracted group from Arkansas that travels the country doing this tree seedling work starting in the South and working their way northward.
While potatoes were going in the ground not far away, staff at the tree nursery were digging the 1- to 3-year-old seedlings, including pine, spruce and oak varieties. Tree seed planting will advance in earnest around June. Some seeds are also planted in the fall, Hamilton said.
Tree planting at the nursery includes fields with 600 foot rows. Seeds are planted in rows of six just inches apart. When it's time to dig, the pine trees look like one dense carpet of green needles.
The spring lift began on April 8 this year, a few weeks ahead of the 2023 season. Trees are dug using a specialized digger behind a tractor right after the frost goes out, which is also a good time for tree seedlings to be planted. Trees were being delivered shortly after being dug, graded and sorted.
With an open winter, there was some concern that tree seedlings may be damaged.
“But it seems like stuff came through pretty good,” Hamilton said. “The seedlings look good. We have a little bit of winter burn.”
About 3 million seedlings were sold this year. It’s about a 50/50 split between trees going to public (state and county forests) and private lands. The operation is supported through the sale of seedlings each spring. The spring lift and distribution period has to occur in about a four- to six-week period.
Hamilton said they’re seeding around five million to six million trees this year as they anticipate that tree sales should increase soon.
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If they do increase, they want to be ready. Part of that involves a new cooler expansion project that is set to break ground later this spring. The cooler spaces are where they keep trees that have been lifted in a dormant state near freezing. In this way, even if it’s pouring rain or snow is piling up outside, as occurred this spring, they’ll have the product to work with inside.
Other facilities at the nursery include an area where seeds are kept dry. Another area is where cones are tumbled to separate the seeds. Another area acts as a kiln to heat up and dry out the seeds so they’ll be ready for germination.
Hamilton knows that growing trees is not looked at as agriculture by most, but he sees the similarities in his daily work.
They plant with farm machinery each spring and fall. The soil is worked. Herbicide is used to control weeds. Every field is irrigated. Fields see rotation, rest, cover crops and weeding, and the whole complex is surrounded by fence in order to prevent deer damage.
“It’s the only thing out there, other than some, there’s some private nurseries,” Hamilton said. “As far as reforestation, and that’s our main goal is for reforestation, a lot of these trees are going into windbreaks, or plantings where private landowners have harvested trees or they have old fields they want to turn into trees, they are no longer farming. So, yeah there is quite a need.”
The state has another nursery at Willow River, that’s not currently used as a nursery. It’s mostly being used as an orchard to collect seeds. Hamilton said there may come a day where there are more trees needed than the Badoura site can handle that they need to restart planting seeds at the General C.C. Andrews nursery at Willow River.
This may be Hamilton’s final season at Badoura. He’s hopeful that the forests in the state fulfill the goals hoped for.
“It’s been fun work,” Hamilton said. “It’s very interesting and you’re always learning things.”
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It's too late to order trees this year, but check out the nursery website for information on ordering for next year at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/nursery/index.html.
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