By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

Texas students toured a sawmill and learned about timber production through Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) Farm From School program.

Farm From School is a virtual opportunity for students in kindergarten through fifth grade to meet with a farmer, rancher or forester once a month to learn about Texas agriculture.

This month, students learned about Texas forestry and how it connects to agriculture from Damon Burris in Huntsville. Burris has worked for Steely Lumber Company for 25 years and shared his knowledge about pine trees and lumber with students across the Lone Star State.

“Last month, students learned about dairy farming, and this month they get to learn about Texas forestry,” Carson Read, TFB Educational Outreach coordinator, said. “Students asked many questions about the trees and how they are made into lumber.”

Texas has over 22 million acres of trees, which is roughly bigger than the entire state of Maine.

During the 30-minute virtual session, Burris informed students of the three types of pine trees grown in Texas—short leaf pine, long leaf pine and loblolly pine trees.

Burris mostly grows loblolly pine trees because they are the fastest growing pine tree. The loblolly pine tree can go from seedling to full maturity in 30 years.

Students were engaged with Burris’ tour and curious about the different products that come from trees. Burris helped the students understand how the entire tree is used. Trees are used to make the pencils they write with to the pages in their books, and the sawdust and shavings are made into wood pellets that are used to heat homes.

“Nothing goes to waste,” Burris said.

Students learned how to identify a tree by the tree’s bark and leaves. Burris also taught students how to estimate a tree’s age by counting the inside rings of the tree.

Pine tree seeds are grown inside the pinecones that grow at the top of the trees. When the seed is ready, the pinecones open, and the seeds fall to the ground for new trees to grow.

The trees are planted in rows called plantations, and 600 seedlings are planted for every one acre.

“We plant our trees in the wintertime when there is a lot of extra rain and it’s cooler,” Burris said. “If you plant them in your yard in the summertime, you better make sure you water them a lot.”

Students were able to tour the sawmill, but not before they learned about the safety precautions Burris and his coworkers take each day to prevent injuries. Once they were at the sawmill, students saw how the lumber was cut and ready to ship out.

Students were fascinated by the equipment used to make the lumber and asked many questions about the teamwork that goes into making lumber and what happens if equipment breaks down at the mill.

Burris shared he enjoys all aspects of his job from going into the woods and growing trees, to cutting the wood at the sawmill and making lumber.

“Trees are a very great, renewable, natural resource,” Burris said. “It’s something that the earth provides us that we can use over and over, as long as we take good care of it.”

The Spring 2023 program will continue through May.

Click here for more information about the Farm From School program.