Farming: Latest from Waterford Forest Owners Group

A beautiful night, a beautiful forest; those in attendance at the latest Waterford Forest Owners Group event heard a talk titled: “Realising the potential of family-owned forestry", given by the Irish Forest Owners (IFO).

The talk focused on a family-owned forest getting its full potential value.

Recommendations included measuring trees before harvesting, especially before clear fell, as harvesting too soon will not give the owner the full value of the crop.

Trees will not grow too big or oversize, and there is a market for larger, more valuable timber.

Michael also gave a lesson on how to properly measure the timber. After clear fell and replanting with new plants, the value of this plantation is worth about €1,000 per hectare per year for the next 30 or 35 years. Therefore, why sell clear fell ground for €5,000 or €6,000 per acre?

According to the IFO, Forestry is a valuable asset to any farming enterprise, working as a pension, a college fund or a savings account, as well as a carbon store, a space for biodiversity and a legacy for future generations.

Kathleen Lucey of the IFO gave the up-to-date position on forest certification, which will be revisited again by the Waterford Forest Owners Group.

The Department of Agriculture is also making more funding available for education about certification.

An important part of the Waterford group’s forest walks is the cup of tea and chat, which is part of the learning process. Thanks to Kiva and James for their input arranging the cuppa during the recent event.

“We will concentrate on CCF (continuous cover forest) and certification on our next walk in about six weeks’ time, or if you would like to concentrate on some other forest programme please contact us,” said Tom Hickey, secretary, who can be contacted on 087 9386209.