Franklin County Timber Prices — Q2 2026

Every quarter we sit down with the mills we work with in Franklin, Adams, and Cumberland counties, write down what they’re paying by species and grade, then cross-check against Penn State Extension and FORECON’s regional reports. This is the Q2 2026 cut. No paywall, no email required.

All figures below are stumpage: what a Franklin County landowner actually receives for a quality mature tree on accessible ground, before our 10% fee. Prices use the International ¼″ log rule and are quoted in dollars per thousand board feet ($/MBF).

Q2 at a glance

Mid-point of Franklin County stumpage range, Q2 2026. Full ranges in the table below.

Headline: what moved this quarter

• White oak finally broke $1,900 stave. Two of the three Kentucky cooperages we track raised their delivered-log price in early May. Local mills had to follow to keep volume; stave-grade stumpage moved from a Q1 mid-point of $1,800 to $1,925.
• Walnut continued its grind back. Saw-log mid-point now $780, up from $725 in Q1 and roughly +18% from the Q3 2025 trough. Veneer is also waking up — a single 32″ clear-bole tree out of Greene Township sold to a buyer in Indiana for the equivalent of $7,400 stumpage in May.
• Cherry slipped again. Down ~6% on the saw-log side. We are not calling a bottom yet. If you have mature cherry that is healthy, holding it another year is reasonable; if it’s declining, sell now.
• Hard maple firmed up. Plain saw-log moved from $275 to $295 mid-point. The story remains figured material — a single curly butt log out of Hamilton Township scaled at $4,200 to one buyer in June.
• Red oak is still flat-on-its-back. No movement on Chinese import policy in the first half of the year. Domestic flooring is the only buyer, and they have plenty of inventory.
• Ash is increasingly a salvage market. EAB mortality in the South Mountain corridor accelerated. Most Q2 ash sales were salvage at $80–$140/MBF; we are no longer quoting a non-salvage range.

Stumpage prices by species (Q2 2026)

Species	Saw-log stumpage	Upside grade
Black Walnut	$600 – $960 / MBF	Veneer: $2,800 – $6,500+ / MBF
White Oak	$520 – $740 / MBF	Stave-grade: $1,825 – $2,025 / MBF
Black Cherry	$280 – $380 / MBF	Select & better: $620+ / MBF
Hard Maple	$245 – $345 / MBF	Figured (birdseye / curly): 5–12×
Red Oak	$180 – $260 / MBF	—
Yellow Poplar (Tulip)	$145 – $210 / MBF	—
White Ash	Salvage: $80 – $140 / MBF	Non-salvage market effectively closed
Hickory	$140 – $200 / MBF	—

MBF = thousand board feet, International ¼″ log rule. A mature 28″ DBH walnut with a 12′ clear butt log scales to roughly 250–400 board feet, depending on bucking.

Quarter-over-quarter: Q1 → Q2 2026

Species (saw-log mid)	Q1 2026	Q2 2026	Change
White Oak (stave)	$1,800	$1,925	+6.9%
Black Walnut	$725	$780	+7.6%
White Oak (saw)	$600	$630	+5.0%
Black Cherry	$350	$330	−5.7%
Hard Maple	$275	$295	+7.3%
Red Oak	$220	$215	−2.3%
Yellow Poplar	$170	$178	+4.7%
White Ash	$185	$110 (salvage)	market shift
Hickory	$170	$170	flat

How Franklin County compares to the rest of PA

Penn State Extension splits Pennsylvania into four reporting regions. Franklin County sits in the South Central region, which usually trades a hair below Southeast (closer to Lancaster and the Philadelphia furniture trade) and well above the Northwest. Below is the Q2 2026 white oak saw-log mid-point by region, in $/MBF.

Franklin County sits roughly $85/MBF below the Southeast and $75/MBF above the Northwest for saw-log white oak. The reason is geography: stave buyers in Lebanon and Lancaster will run a truck this far west, but it is a longer haul, and they price it in. The same dynamic plays out across most species — you should expect Franklin County numbers to land in the upper half of the PA range, but not at the top.

Two spotlights this quarter

Per-tree translation

Mills quote $/MBF, but landowners think in trees. Below are rough per-tree figures for a single mature yard tree on accessible ground at Q2 2026 prices.

Species	Typical saw-log yard tree	When it gets exciting
Black Walnut	$425 – $1,950	Veneer: $3,200 – $13,000+
White Oak	$320 – $950	Stave: $1,300 – $3,800
Black Cherry	$140 – $520	High select: $650 – $1,300
Hard Maple	$130 – $420	Figured: $850 – $3,400+
Red Oak	$90 – $295	—
Yellow Poplar	$72 – $210	—
White Ash	Salvage: $40 – $130	—
Hickory	$70 – $200	—

Methodology & sources

These are Franklin County numbers. A walnut in Bedford County or Lancaster County may trade at slightly different prices — the regional comparison above gives you a sense of the spread. If a buyer has put a number in front of you and you want a sanity check, call us. We’ll tell you honestly whether the offer is in range, even if you don’t end up working with us.

What we’re watching for Q3 2026

• White oak stave: watch for a second cooperage price move in late summer. Bourbon bottling cycles are roughly 6–8 years, and 2018–2020 lay-down volumes were heavy — the replacement barrels are coming due.
• Walnut veneer: European furniture buyers showed up at the Indianapolis log sale in March. If that holds through summer, expect another 5–8% on the veneer ceiling by Q3.
• Cherry: we expect a flat Q3. Any catalyst would have to come from a furniture-design shift, which we are not seeing.
• Red oak: still tied to Chinese import policy. A loosening would move the floor meaningfully; tightening keeps it pinned. We track this monthly.
• Ash: EAB mortality is now ahead of salvage capacity in the South Mountain corridor. Logistics, not price, will be the bottleneck.

Previous report: Franklin County Timber Prices — Q1 2026. Next update: late July 2026.