2023 Season in Review
With the 2023 season coming to a close, we think it’s important to reflect on our triumphs and our tribulations over the last year to better understand where we can improve our operations next season. This is typically an internal process, however, this year, we thought it would be cool to be transparent with all of you by reviewing our 2023 performance and discussing our goals for the new year.
The Numbers
2023 was one of our biggest years to date, with about four million trees planted across 19 projects. In total, we had 93 employees, including management, who tackled roughly 4000 hectares of land across BC. We’ve primarily run motel shows for a few years now, and this year was no different. Our team seems to enjoy this, saying that having a dry room with a real bed helps with recovery and airing out clothes. Plus, because we cover the cost of accommodations, our team didn’t need to pay camp costs and could earn a few extra dollars each day.
At Leader, something we take immense pride in is having a talented team of experienced planters. Most of our work was in the interior, with some very challenging ground. Luckily, our team was up to the task and did a great job planting high-quality trees with a low margin for error. Because of the terrain, our planters can sometimes experience decreases in productivity, however, their increased attention to detail was reflected in our prices. Most of our projects ranged from 20-40 cents/tree, averaging roughly 25 cents. Because of this, our team’s earnings stayed pretty consistent despite the reduced productivity, averaging just under $400/day, depending on the location. Our top performer was a machine, planting 119,000 trees in two months (~2300/day). This was an astounding performance, especially considering the quality standard for that job.
Our Thoughts on 2023:
If we had to describe our 2023 season in one word, it would be challenging. There were a series of unfortunate events that made things very difficult, including forest fires, floods, rockslides, washouts, and more. The biggest challenge was an unfortunate fire inside our Kamloops storage facility. Luckily, nobody was injured, however, it did create a logistical nightmare and hindered our ability to receive shipments, including several weeks where deliveries couldn’t be made. Fortunately, we were able to figure things out and get through these obstacles with relative success, and we learned a lot about rolling the punches and solving these types of problems in the process.
Despite an unlucky season for weather and Acts of God, we did have successes we are proud of and hope to build on in the future. First, we were happy to start our season early with a spring plant and were glad that we could find additional work throughout the year to extend our season into fall. This year, we also had a very successful brushing season, hiring 20 brushers for 450 hectares of brushwork. Although we’ve done brushing in the past, this was one of our most successful years so far, and we are glad that some of our planters got to extend their season even further, with a small crew continuing into December. We also had a great year for safety, especially with driving, which tends to be the most dangerous. Leader Silviculture has always had a great safety record, but improvements are always welcome, and it’s important to celebrate success in this area.
2024 Outlook
Despite several challenges in 2023, overall, it was a positive season that taught us many lessons we’ll bring into 2024. Although we already have a good history of safety, we will always strive to improve our procedures to better ensure that our team is happy and healthy all season long. We also want to continue building our reputation as an experienced team that produces quality work on difficult ground. This is only possible if everyone on our team is on the same page with standards, which is why we will work on improving our communication across crew bosses to better ensure that our expectations for quality are understood by everyone from day one and are consistent company-wide.
In 2024, we hope for fewer weather incidents, which would give us more time for the things that matter, such as employee wellness and finding work to extend our season. Regardless of what happens, we are more confident than ever that we’ll be able to deal with those challenges more effectively. Next year, our goal is to continue to extend your season more. Right now, we are on track for one of our largest seasons ever. We’ve secured 5M trees so far and will continue bidding on more projects throughout the winter and into next season. We also aim to continue building our momentum with brushing and hope to find more work this year that will allow some of you to continue your seasons even longer!
We are very excited for the upcoming season and are hopeful that it will be our best yet. We are actively looking to hire a bunch of experienced planters for the upcoming season, so if you’d like to get involved, we would love to hear from you. Learn more about the role and apply using the button below!
See you next year!
