The government’s new proposals for forestry will not encourage farmers to enter the sector, according to the Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners (LTWO).
The organisation has expressed its “anger and frustration” at the €1.3 billion Forestry Programme which is open for public consultation until the end of November.
Under the draft programme, which is still subject to approval from the European Commission, farmers who plant trees will receive an annual premium for 20 years, along with grant aid to reduce planting costs.
Higher payment rates which will apply from January 2023 mean that farmers planting native forests will have an income of €22,000/ha for 20 years.
However, the LTWO said that banning the planting of Sitka spruce without including 20% broadleaves will dramatically reduce the viability of forestry as a commercial enterprise.
Speaking during an emergency meeting of the organisation’s committee, Simon White, LTWO chair, said:
“The department [of agriculture] has not learned the key lesson from the licensing fiasco, that farmers need the government to commit to making forestry economically sustainable in the long term with simpler processes, yet they are creating more financial and bureaucratic barriers.
“The department is insisting that the only profitable part of forestry is reduced by 20%. This short-sighted proposal will stop farmers entering forestry and slow the fight against climate change.
“While there has been an increase in premiums for afforestation, premiums are not the problem. It is when the premiums end and the forest has to pay its way that the problems start,” White said.
“We need Sitka woods to sequester carbon quickly, to switch to more environmentally sustainable building methods and to make forestry a type of farming that people are willing to commit to for generations.
“But the department has ignored the economic realities facing farmers and this proposal will mean job losses across the industry,” he added.
“You wouldn’t tell a dairy farmer he has to run 20% Limousins within the milking herd, yet that is effectively what the department is proposing for forest owners.”
The LTWO said that no economic analysis has been offered in the draft document on the effect of this proposal on the profitability of forestry.
It added that there are no details in the plan to improve the Ash Dieback Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS).
The organisation is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, Pippa Hackett to discuss its concerns.
The LTWO is predicting that afforestation levels will collapse to less than 2021’s figure of 2,000ha.
“I am at a loss as to how to advise any farmer to plant trees under this new implementation plan,” White said.