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A neighbor has about10 acres in small trees in rows. They are various kinds of evergreens and he plans to sell them when they are a bit bigger. I see him working out there quite often, spreading mulch around the trees and between the rows. To my knowledge, he is not watering the trees beyond what nature provides, and I can see that some trees have not made it. With our current drought, next summer could be very hard on his investment. I think I would be removing about 2/3 of the small trees to conserve moisture, if I were doing it. My neighbor has a lot of hours invested in this project and I doubt he has gotten any return at all so far. He also probably has some money invested in the trees themselves, though I have no idea how much. The land was very productive wheatland previously, with deep soil and no rocks. I would guess that it would be excellent ground to harvest trees from, and if they survive, the trees could be considered very hardy for our local climate. He subdivided the property and had a 10 acre plot that didn't sell, so he decided to try tree farming. The other 10 acre plots all have houses on them now, all built in the last 10 years. Our area also has a lot of deer, but they don't seem to be very interested in evergreens. On the other hand, another neighbor tried U-pick strawberries and raspberries and had a nightmare trying to deal with deer damage, all year. After 3 or 4 years, he plowed his berry area all up and put it back in grain. I talked to him and he never made a profit on the berries and it was a lot of work. His berry patches were right by his house and looked to be 4 or 5 acres. I used to have a large garden every year, but the last number of years, I haven't even bothered, since the last gardens I had were completely taken by the deer during August, when my area is very dry. The only way a garden can be protected from the deer, is with a 10'+ fence. With the area becoming suburbia, having a loose dog is no longer an option--they get shot or the dog catcher gets them (and it costs about $150 to get them back from the pound!). As near as I can see, there is no good, acceptable and legal solution to the deer problem around here. I bet there are 10 times as many deer around here as when I was a kid 50 years ago..... If you decide to try tree farming, I would suggest starting a small area for a few years to see how well it goes. Doing it that way might save you a lot of hard work and disappointment. Good luck.
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