 So maybe we ripped that quote from someone fairly famous on TV, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
Winter is indeed coming, and along with winter weather comes longer lead times and longer trucking runs. Do yourself (and your customers) a favor and prepare for your bedding needs ahead of time. Here at Pine River Bedding, we recommend that you call in your orders for the winter and spring as soon as possible. Why, do you ask? Well that part is a little more complicated. 1) The mills slow down in the winter. No, the mills don't work fewer hours, but it does take much longer to produce each load of shavings. Winter weather (think ice and snow sitting on the logs) means much longer drying times in order to make our shavings as absorbent as possible. 2) Trucking gets tight. Additionally, the large trucks that move logs and finished lumber have a much harder time getting into and out of New England. Winter weather means that trucking is harder to secure, and even after the product is loaded, there is still no guarantee that there won't be additional weather issues along the way. 3) Ramp up in customer need. As the winter comes along, our customers need more and more shavings for their stores, their farms, and their livestock shows. Our production schedule gets awfully tight as we get deeper into winter. So what can you do to ensure you get delivery as you need product? Call us ASAP and let us know how many loads you need and at what interval. For example, maybe you need 2 loads per month, every 2 weeks. By having your schedule planned ahead of time, we can make sure you are scheduled to receive the production during the week you asked for it. Anyone that does not have a spot reserved will have to be placed in line for us to deliver as we get extra production. As always, thanks for being the best customers in the world. Pine River Bedding
1 Comment
 In a world full of bedding choices, most people still choose to use pine shavings or sawdust for all of their animal bedding. Let's dive into this topic in detail and examine why pine wood makes a great animal bedding.
In our experience, people choose to use pine shavings for most (or maybe even all) of the following reasons:
Let's break each of these down in detail. Pine wood makes a really soft and fluffy bedding because the base material is a softwood tree. The difference between hardwoods and softwoods is a major structural difference, but without getting too deep into the science of cellular structure, softwoods don't contain large pores thus the material is softer and more sponge like. When processing pine trees into lumber or shavings, these structural differences lead to a softer and fluffier flake than hardwood trees would produce. Pine wood is also 100% biogradable. Essentially this means that as long as the wood is left untreated, then the shavings and lumber will naturally decompose by bacteria and other living organisms. Not only is this great for the environment, but it is much easier to handle waste removal on your farm or facility when something will naturally decompose over time. In my humble opinion, the fact that pine wood has great absorption qualities and controls smell so well is probably the number one reason that it remains so popular. Sure, technology and science have created all sorts of new bedding options, but year after year people continue to use pine because it is a cheaper, better smelling alternative, that absorbs moisture really well. Cost and ease of use matter for consumers as well. Whether it be bulk or bales, storing pine shavings and sawdust is fairly easy. All that really matters is keeping it dry. As for applying shavings and mucking stalls, it is easily handled with a rake, shovel, and/or broom. Pine is usually less expensive than most other options as well since pine trees and shavings are readily available nationwide in the United States. All in all, pine wood makes great animal bedding because of basic economics and scale. It's inexpensive, it's readily available, it's easy to use, and it solves a majority of the issues that most people need resolved. That's a beautiful thing for the consumer, as well as manufacturers that need to dispose of shavings and sawdust byproducts. Maybe someday technology will do more for animal bedding than it currently has, but until then, pine wood sawdust and shavings are still the best answer for most people (and animals). Original article available here.
For Immediate Release: October 11, 2018 BOISE, Idaho - Boise Cascade Company (Boise Cascade) (NYSE: BCC) announced today an agreement to acquire Arling Lumber, Inc., headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Arling is a third generation, family-owned and operated wholesale distributor of top quality lumber as well as plywood, OSB and engineered wood products. "Arling is an exceptional supplier of many forest products," said Nick Stokes, executive vice president, Boise Cascade. "With their experienced and knowledgeable team, they will be a great addition to our nationwide distribution network and will enhance our service capacity in the Ohio market." "Boise Cascade has been a valued supplier to Arling Lumber for over 45 years," said P.J. Arling, president of Arling Lumber. "This is an ideal strategic and cultural fit that will allow the combined organization to grow and provide more value to our customers." The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. About Boise Cascade Boise Cascade is one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products. For more information, please visit our website at www.bc.com. Original article available via Bloomberg.com.
The odds of settling a long-running dispute between the U.S. and Canada over lumber are looking pretty bleak, according to a key producer. There’s been no progress to settle the Canada-U.S. fight over softwood lumber as governments have been more focused on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, said Yves Laflamme, chief executive officer of Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products. The company is currently paying about $80 million a year in tariffs, and it’s likely Canada’s legal battle to fight the U.S. restrictions through the World Trade Organization will drag on for another four years, he said. “I’m not optimistic at all on lumber,” Laflamme said Thursday in an interview following the company’s second quarter earnings call. “I’m not expecting any settlement.” In a move intended to protect the domestic lumber industry, the U.S. last year slapped average duties of more than 20 percent on imports of timber from Canada, which supplies more than a quarter of what American builders use each year. Lumber futures traded in Chicago have climbed about 11 percent over the last 12 months as the trade friction raised concerns over limited supplies. Disputes between the countries over softwood lumber have caused intermittent friction for years. The latest tensions were reignited in 2016 when the U.S. lumber industry filed a petition asking for duties, which the Trump administration obliged. American producers allege Canadian wood is heavily subsidized and imports are harming U.S. mills and workers. Canadians argue the U.S. depends on its lumber for home construction and won’t be able to meet demand without its neighbor to the north. Lumber is on fire. Not literally of course, that would be a bad thing, but lumber prices and expansion plans continue to explode in the United States.
Georgia Pacific just announced plans to build a $150 million plant in the Albany, GA area this week. For more information, see the full article here. |
Pine River Bedding BlogAre you interested in what we have going on under the hood and behind the scenes? Archives
April 2019
Categories |
RSS Feed
Proudly powered by Weebly