A Tree Farmer’s Perspective: Keeping Oak in the Family

Clifton Taylor’s tree farm, Elk Cave Farms in Gravel Switch, Kentucky, has grown from 287 acres in 1959 to more than 1,200 acres today. Much of its certified hardwood forestland is on steep, rugged terrain about 900 to 1,500 feet above sea level. Ever since the first tract was purchased, on land neighboring the farm where Clifton was born, the Taylor family has had a mission of establishing new forests, tending young timber stands, and harvesting sustainable forest products from mature trees. Today, three generations of Taylors manage the land and share their knowledge with other landowners.

According to Clifton’s son, Scott Taylor, “From early on, my father was doing improvements and learning about forestry, with a focus on commercial timber production. He was a county extension agent and had a high degree of respect for science and applying it to the real world.”

Clifton was one of the first private landowners in Kentucky to obtain forest management certification from both the American Tree Farm System and the Forest Stewardship Council. His tree farm features impressive oak and hickory forests and one of the best examples of the oak shelterwood management method. According to Scott, “There are some good timber stands on the property but we’ve learned that if you don’t manage that timber before the harvest, then what regenerates may not be the best quality or the most desirable species.” Today, Elk Cave Farms is the exclusive white oak log supplier to Irish Distillers for the production of PEFC-certified whiskey barrels in the United States.

The Taylors worked closely with the Kentucky Division of Forestry, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, and forestry consultant Chris Will, who is the president of a consulting rm called Central Kentucky Forest Management. According to Will, “On the Taylor farm, we’ve been working to regenerate oak since 2010 but we lacked practical experience. Through Clifton’s encouragement and experimentation, we researched oak and perfected our techniques. By around 2014 we figured out the process and how to do it in an economical way. Now we’re sharing that knowledge with others, including through the White Oak Initiative.”

“My father’s first great-grandchild was just born a few months ago ... we want something that will stay in the family for a long time, so that there’s timber for my grandchildren to harvest.”
— Scott Taylor

For Scott, it’s all part of a long-term plan that will last long after he and his brother Steve are gone. “We try to look at the land and the watershed from a holistic perspective, not just for one big payday. We want a sustainable tree farm here — to treat it as a production system that we manage, not something that will grow wild and we’ll worry about 60 years from now. It’s more important to have a good, healthy forest. My father’s first great-grandchild was just born a few months ago ... we want something that will stay in the family for a long time, so that there’s timber for my grandchildren to harvest.”