Lumber Slingers

Hosted by Chelsea Zuccato & Natalie Heacock

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Episodes

156

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Lumber Slingers is the podcast for everyone in the wood products world, from the trading floor to the mill floor. We bring the industry intel you usually only get behind closed doors, and we make it a good time.

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60 recent

November 2, 202641 min

158. Bots and Boards: Keep the Human Human

Part two of Bots and Boards is Natalie squared. Dr. Natalie Nelson-Marsh of the University of Portland has spent 25 years studying what happens to people when technology flips work upside down, and she’s here as the antidote to both the doomers and the hype crowd. She explains what generative AI is actually doing under the hood, why it’s such a people pleaser, and why handing it your homework is like taking a forklift to the gym. Then the conversation gets real about the trading floor: why being cautious can be a strength, what employees fear losing, and how lumber’s handshake culture can decide what AI gets to touch. Plus a family bot that runs carpool better than any of us, a doctor’s stamp of approval, and why human skills have never mattered more. Like and subscribe, and reach out at lumberslingers@gmail.com .

October 30, 202623 min

157. Newswire Update: Gaston Still Can’t Find Belle, But He Found the News

It’s our Halloween special, and the costumes are doing a lot of the talking. Katy Perry is still paying her diesel bill, Elizabeth Holmes says she’s raising money for version two, and Gaston keeps losing track of Belle while he reads you the week’s lumber news. Under all that, there’s real news. A pallet acquisition grows one big player’s network, a major Southern Pine reinvestment gets an Arkansas mill ready to more than double its output, and a fresh round of indefinite curtailments hits OSB and SYP in the South. We also get into Q3 results across the industry, fuel costs that now show up in actual earnings, a promotion close to home for Trent, and a new lumber pricing launch headed to Traders Market in Anaheim. We close with gas, diesel, mortgage rates and the latest on lumber prices, plus a very short Katy Perry concert. If this got a laugh out of you, like and subscribe, and reach us at lumberslingers@gmail.com .

October 26, 202634 min

156. Bots and Boards: The AIs Are Coming

Bots and Boards kicks off with the man who was warning everyone about AI back when nobody wanted to hear it. Charles Jennings, author of Artificial Intelligence: Rise of the Light Speed Learners and former CEO of NeuralEye, joins Natalie and Chelsea to explain what AI really is, why researchers call it a black box inside a black box, and what “math cookies” have to do with training it. He also lays out a plan overseas aimed squarely at wood products that the industry should be watching. Then the practical stuff: whether the doomers have a point, how to get a skeptical company to use AI without trying to boil the ocean, and the question everyone’s asking at dinner, whether AI can ever be conscious. He even splits his own firewood, so he counts as one of us. Like and subscribe so you don’t miss parts two and three, and reach out anytime at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

October 23, 202625 min

155. Two Pods, One Booth: The Lumber Word Crashes Lumber Slingers

Two lumber podcasts walk into a newswire. Ashley Boeckholt of The Lumber Word joins Natalie, Chelsea, and Trent to announce something big for the 30th NAWLA Traders Market in Anaheim. Ashley was at the very first Traders Market, and he has stories: wild cab rides, protesters, and the tech booths hidden in a corner. Trent then runs the week’s news. There’s an acquisition with a confusing name, Canada’s first robotic roof truss line (Natalie disappears to find the video), a sawmill expansion, and what we’re officially calling CFO Appointment Season. Ashley also gets his first taste of the headshot rating panel. Plus diesel pain, Oregon’s pump-your-own-gas era, an unexpected Bucky’s fan club, and where mortgages and lumber landed this week. Find The Lumber Word on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. If you liked this one, like and subscribe, and send us your questions or thoughts at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

October 21, 202630 min

154. Bark to Basics: Valon Kone on Why Debarking Matters

This episode is sponsored by Valon Kone. Natalie and Chelsea go international with Sebastien, Teemu and Shanna of Valon Kone, the Finnish family company that went from hand-peeling logs after World War II to running debarkers in sawmills around the world. We get into why bark is a bigger deal for your chips and your saws than most people think, how you fit a debarker into a shipping container, and what a mill manager with a thirty-year-old machine is really signing up for. Plus where cameras and AI are headed on the mill floor, the species debarkers love and the ones they hate.. Like and subscribe, and send your questions to lumberslingers@gmail.com. More information on Valon Kone? Visit: www.valonkone.com

October 16, 202624 min

153. Newswire Update: Puppy Yoga, Flying Cars, and Duties on the Wire

Trent’s adding life coach to the résumé, starting with some hard-won advice about puppy yoga and black pants. Natalie and Chelsea report from a team build that had more “blessings” than yoga. The crew also takes on Elon’s flying roadster and the great FedEx vs. UPS feud, then gets into the business news: the new softwood lumber duty and tariff rates taking effect Monday, composite decking changing hands again, RP Lumber and Kamps adding locations, another mill closure in the Mountain West, and a patent attorney taking over at PABCO. Stick around for gas prices with brand new intro music, mortgage rates, a neighborhood housing check from three markets, and a preview of next week’s costume episode. Like and subscribe, leave us a comment and reach out anytime at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

October 12, 202637 min

152. Fight Fire with Forestry: Rick Sohn on Fixing the Federal Forest

Roseburg native Rick Sohn grew up in the family sawmill his German-baker father built from scratch, one of the first computerized sawmills anywhere, and later ran Lone Rock Timber. He joins Natalie and Chelsea to talk about Forest Bridges, the group he co-founded that puts timber people and conservationists at the same table to find a better way to manage BLM lands. We get into why the old growth reserves are burning faster than they can grow, what 3,000 years of pollen tells us about how Oregon’s forests used to look, and where Forest Bridges thinks the upcoming BLM western Oregon plan should land compared to the target that’s been making headlines. There’s also the story of how Rick spent his first year in silviculture working as a getaway driver for a forester who had too many speeding tickets. To learn more or become a friend of Forest Bridges, visit forestbridges.org. If you enjoyed the episode, like and subscribe, and reach out to us anytime at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

October 9, 202622 min

151. Newswire Update: The Great Loop Mill Closures, Menards Not That One, and Gas Pump Pain

Lumber Slingers is back after an unplanned two weeks off, and Trent has a score to settle with FedEx. Before we get to the news, we cover a haircut gone very wrong, Natalie’s diesel habit, and a tour of Trent’s china cabinet. Then we get into it: a sawmill is shutting down and going out with class, RONA has a new CEO, and ABC Supply is changing its Chief Information Officer. Trent also starts a new gas price segment, so get ready to wince at the pump. We cover mortgage rates and applications, explain what a looper is, and check on lumber prices, which Trent calls boring. Like and subscribe, and reach out to us at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

September 18, 202619 min

150. Newswire Update: The Kids Are Not Alright About Trees

Allison DeFord of the North American Forest Foundation (NAFF) joins Natalie and Chelsea to talk about what the next generation actually believes about trees, and what it takes to change that one classroom at a time. Trent is out this week but sent his homework, so we still get into a Fed decision nobody saw coming three years ago, a Canadian curveball out of Brussels, two mill investments worth celebrating, a new name at the top of a big wood company, and yes, a headshot grade. NAFF is the industry's nonprofit teaching kids the truth about trees. Its Truth About Trees kits go to K-5 classrooms free, funded entirely by donors, and there is a waitlist a lot longer than you would guess. Donate at northamericanforestfoundation.org, and check whether your employer matches, because a lot of them do. Like and subscribe wherever you listen, and reach out anytime at lumberslingers@gmail.com.

September 11, 202626 min

149. Newswire Update: Guess Who's Back, Back Again

Lumber Slingers is back after a long summer break, and Natalie, Chelsea, and Trent waste no time getting the band back together, sound effects and all. Between Italian ER visits, Scottish forestry trips, and a fight over who gets to press the air horn button, the crew digs into the trade war chaos that took over the summer: tariffs moving in both directions, USMCA in limbo and the AR7 final rates landing in October. They also cover two more mill closures, one class act response, and a little good news out of the media side of the industry. Rusty, unfiltered, and better than ever. Like and subscribe so you do not miss what is coming next, and reach out any time at lumberslingers@gmail.com.