1. Singling, tip pruning and stem form improvement for Koa Forest Solutions, Inc. November 16, 2012

2. Why is it needed? Acacias have poor apical dominance -Heavy lateral branching -Competing leaders This is exacerbated by -Psyllid attacks that kill apical meristem -Frost / drought that also kill tips -Open growing conditions

3. What is singling and tip pruning? Singling -Removing competitive leaders only -Cut flush with stem of sapling -Target small (1/4” or less) branches Tip pruning -Remove tips of competing leaders only -Keep photosynthetic area -Reduce competition from side branches

4. Singling and tip pruning: Cases 1 – 3 Singling Tip pruning

5. Singling and tip pruning: Cases 4 – 6 Singling Tip pruning

6. Singling: Before

7. Singling: After

8. Singling: Before

9. Singling: After

10. Tip pruning

11. Singling schedule Entry 1 at 10 months Entry 2 at 16 months w/ tip pruning Entry 3 at 24 months w/ tip pruning Cost -Approximately $ 80 - $ 90 per acre depending on ground conditions

12. Cost consequences of insufficient pruning Pruning at 5 - 6 years -Large dead branches -Telescoping chain saw necessary -Longer time per tree Pruning at 3 - 4 years -All live branches -Hand saw sufficient -Shorter per-tree times -More trees eligible for pruning Per-operator Acres / hr Tool / Method Time/tree (min) Trees/h r 2006‡ (200 tpa) 2007 (220 tpa) 2009 (240 tpa) Hand saw 0.73820.410.370.34 Manual telescoping† 0.93640.320.29NA Chainsaw telescoping† 0.88680.340.31NA † Area per time does not influence production rates because telescoping saws visit fewer trees than hand saws and can thus spend additional time at a given tree ‡ Trees per acre indicates trees that must be pruned, not total stems Personnel Production Cost Stand Hand saw Man. Tel. Chn. Tel. Acres / hr Acres / (8 hr) day $ / hr$ / ac 200621 10.82 6.56$125$152 200721 10.74 5.92$125$169 200940 01.36 10.88$125$92