Approximately 23,000 forests have been planted in Ireland since 1980, mostly by farmers. As 46% of forest owners have planted at least twice, the actual number of forest owners is probably more than 17,000 which still represents a significant number of farmers, but could it be much higher?

As there are 137,000 farmers in Ireland, it’s reasonable to assume that 87% have never established a woodland or forest under the Forest Service afforestation grant and premium schemes. However, it is likely that many of these have planted trees on the farm and cared for existing trees including hedgerows.

Despite the dramatic increase in private – mainly farmer – afforestation, especially over the past three decades, most farmers do not regard forestry as a viable land-use option.

The obvious reason is that agriculture provides a better short-term financial return so issues such as long-term payback, the replanting obligation and more attractive competing agricultural schemes are cited as some of the reasons why forestry fails to feature.

There is also a belief that the forestry schemes are geared towards large-scale planting, resulting in the farm being subsumed in the forest.

Yet at 7.5ha – and decreasing – the average size of new forests in Ireland is not large, representing 23% of the size of an average farm in Ireland. However, it is 38% of the area of more than half the farms in the BMW counties, which is where most of the planting has been carried out in recent years.

The larger the forest, the more productive and the more profitable, which is why the Forest Service provides more attractive premium payments to farmers who plant more than 10ha. But this approach is clearly a turn-off for farmers with small holdings.

Farmers who have planted commercial crops are generally happy with their decision to plant, especially the 40% of growers in some counties who have repeat planted. But the reality is that most farmers don’t even consider forestry as a land-use option.

The answer may be to encourage farmers to test the forestry option by planting small areas such as awkward field corners, scrub areas or wet fields, but to make this more financially attractive and easier to do.

Currently, a farmer who wishes to plant native species will receive a grant and annual premia for as little as 0.1ha or a quarter of an acre.

If the farmer opts to plant one or more separate lots on a farm amounting to, say, 1.6ha (four acres), a €10,000 grant is available to cover planting, fencing, ground preparation and maintenance, plus an annual tax-free premium of €1,000 for 15 years.

Many forestry consultants who would welcome the opportunity to advise farmers to plant small lots, claim that the administrative costs for small schemes are too high. They say that site visits and paperwork are proportionally much higher than larger sites, while they may wait for at least a year before payment so cashflow is a problem, as pointed out in the recent Mackinnon review. The answer is to readjust the grant paid upfront to cover the cost of advice and administration, as well as fast-tracking small biodiverse woodland schemes, which should be regarded as public good forestry.

A number of political parties have identified the need to attract more farmers into the afforestation scheme even if this means providing attractive introductory schemes. While some of the Green Party’s policies are controversial to many farmers, it has proposed an innovative small-scale planting proposal, which would act as an introduction to forestry for most farmers in Ireland.

This scheme proposes to “start with the payment of a special planting premium to 120,000 farmers around the country for the planting of one hectare of woodland on their farms”.

Benefit

It might be overly ambitious to attract 88% of all farmers into a forestry or woodland scheme but it is worth consideration providing administrative costs are kept to a minimum so that farmers, contractors and foresters benefit as well as the environment.

Driving around the country, copses or tiny woodlands can be seen, some of which were probably planted without any grant assistance in the past. Today’s farmer who wishes to plant more than 0.1ha needs an afforestation licence as an area of this size and greater is regarded as a forest. If the Department insists on a licence for small plantations, then it needs to develop a system that encourages and facilitates farmers to plant a portion of their farms no matter how small.

The establishment of the Native Woodland Scheme in Northern Ireland, whereby planting is integrated in the overall farm plan, is a worthwhile initiative. This easy-to-access scheme promotes woodland areas of less than 5ha, involving a stocking rate of 1,600 trees and shrubs per hectare.

While it may need a premium scheme, its main benefit lies in its integration with mainstream agriculture.

In the post-2020 CAP, there is an ideal opportunity to increase both large- and small-scale afforestation.

It should be remembered that farmers have provided public good benefits in REPS and FEPS schemes in the past, as well as achieving 33% mainly native broadleaf planting programmes during the 10-year period from 2003 to 2012. In view of the lamentably low current afforestation performance, it is time to promote small-scale woodland establishment including agro-forestry.

Coronavirus: forestry events postponed

The Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA), Euroforest Ireland and Forestry Services Ltd field day scheduled for 27 March in Fanningsbog woodlands, Co Tipperary, has been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. For information on later ITGA events, check www.itga.ie as these will be reviewed subject to coronavirus HSE and Government guidelines.

A decision was taken last Friday by the Tree Council of Ireland to postpone National Tree Week 2020, which was scheduled to take place from 21 to 27 March. The Tree Council and its Tree Week sponsors Coillte, in a joint statement, said: “We have made the decision to postpone Tree Week 2020 and all related public events until further notice.” For up-to-date information, see www.treecouncil.ie.

Correction

In last week’s feature on licence approvals I incorrectly stated that the Department issued 442 licences in February compared with 218 licences in January. This should have read 267 licences in February compared with 134 licences in January as I inadvertently double-counted private and Coillte felling licences.