Farmers to reap €2bn timber harvest

Farmers will reap more than €2 billion from commercial timber sales over the next 12 years, a new forestry industry study calculates.

Forest Industries Ireland, part of employers’ group Ibec, says it has analysed the value of timber likely to be sold by private growers, who are mostly farmers, up to 2035.

The organisation’s Roundwood Production Forecast estimates that private growers will sell 40 million cubic metres of timber from this year to 2035, worth more than €2 billion at today’s prices.

Forest Industries Ireland predicted this would be a “major financial windfall” for the Republic’s farmers.

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The study deals only with private growers, and not State company, Coillte, which is the Republic’s biggest timber producer.

Farmers mostly grow Sitka spruce, which produces timber used in building, fencing, pallets and other commercial purposes. According to the latest official figures, the Republic’s forests will produce enough timber to build 1.4 million homes by 2040.

Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland, said the “true value” of Irish forestry was becoming increasingly apparent. “Farmers and others who invested in planting Sitka spruce over the past 30 years have built up a huge financial asset that will yield over €2 billion in cash flows to growers over the next 12 years,” he added.

Mr McAuley said the Republic had the “perfect conditions” for growing conifers, such as the spruce, which grows here at three times the speed it does in its native Scandinavia.

He urged farmers to maximise returns from their land by planting conifers, as demand for commercial timber was likely to continue growing. “We will see timber prices increasing steadily over the next 10 years,” Mr McAuley predicted.

However, he said the Republic should build more homes from Irish timber and further develop its export market.

“The production of softwood is one of the only financially attractive options for Irish agriculture to diversify land use and meet climate change targets, while at the same time delivering strong financial returns to farmers,” Mr McAuley said.

He said building with timber was faster, and would cut millions of tonnes of carbon emissions, when compared with masonry construction. “We need to update the building regulations and build more apartments as well as houses using timber frame,” Mr McAuley said.

Government programmes back private forest planting with cash grants and other incentives.