Forestry Information

padraig.od

Hi,

Just a bit of background - my mother has 7 hectares of forestry planted. Its split 5.5 conifer (spruce I think), 1.5 ash. My father, who would have looked after this in his retirement, died a number of years ago and my mother is a bit lost to be honest.

The forestry was planted about 12 years ago, and its due for a thinning now I'd say. Can anyone recommend a contact for us to talk to about the thinning process? Or where can we get information regarding forestry in general?

In relation to thinning... how does this work? Do we contract in a company to do the thinning? Approximately how much would it cost for 7H? In general, would the thinnings recovered cover the cost of the thinning process?

She also says the cost of insurance is a burden at the moment and is considering dropping it. What companies would sell forestry insurance? I'd like to ring around a few places and get some quotes. Would you recommend it being insured in the first place?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

greenfingers89

padraig.od wrote: »

Hi,

Just a bit of background - my mother has 7 hectares of forestry planted. Its split 5.5 conifer (spruce I think), 1.5 ash. My father, who would have looked after this in his retirement, died a number of years ago and my mother is a bit lost to be honest.

The forestry was planted about 12 years ago, and its due for a thinning now I'd say. Can anyone recommend a contact for us to talk to about the thinning process? Or where can we get information regarding forestry in general?

In relation to thinning... how does this work? Do we contract in a company to do the thinning? Approximately how much would it cost for 7H? In general, would the thinnings recovered cover the cost of the thinning process?

She also says the cost of insurance is a burden at the moment and is considering dropping it. What companies would sell forestry insurance? I'd like to ring around a few places and get some quotes. Would you recommend it being insured in the first place?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

unless its the fastest growing forest in europe its not ready for thinning, more than likely it'll be another 5 years.

in general thinning costs will be covered and a small amount of money is often left for the owner, a smaller site like your own mightnt make much at all though. depends on access and quality amongst other varients.

i'd contact whoever planted it for you because they know the site and more than likely they might have a quick look at it free of charge some day if they're passing.

i would strongly recommend you keep insurance, if it burnt you have 2 options.....either replant at your own costs or pay back all the grants given in relation to the plantation.

ring teagasc for advice if you cant get the company that planted it out for a look

F.D

padraig.od wrote: »

Hi,

Just a bit of background - my mother has 7 hectares of forestry planted. Its split 5.5 conifer (spruce I think), 1.5 ash. My father, who would have looked after this in his retirement, died a number of years ago and my mother is a bit lost to be honest.

The forestry was planted about 12 years ago, and its due for a thinning now I'd say. Can anyone recommend a contact for us to talk to about the thinning process? Or where can we get information regarding forestry in general?

In relation to thinning... how does this work? Do we contract in a company to do the thinning? Approximately how much would it cost for 7H? In general, would the thinnings recovered cover the cost of the thinning process?

She also says the cost of insurance is a burden at the moment and is considering dropping it. What companies would sell forestry insurance? I'd like to ring around a few places and get some quotes. Would you recommend it being insured in the first place?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just curious in general what would the insurance be costing on a plantation that age? and does it get higher as the years go by (pm me if you want)

temujinhayes

it may need a thinning already, depends on growth rates. you may qualify for a thinning grant on the ash, talk to teagasc first then ask the forest service for their list of approved foresters, call some of the ones in your area and get some opinions. fbd for insurance. its a great asset and don't panic!

padraig.od

greenfingers89 wrote: »

unless its the fastest growing forest in europe its not ready for thinning, more than likely it'll be another 5 years.

in general thinning costs will be covered and a small amount of money is often left for the owner, a smaller site like your own mightnt make much at all though. depends on access and quality amongst other varients.

i'd contact whoever planted it for you because they know the site and more than likely they might have a quick look at it free of charge some day if they're passing.

i would strongly recommend you keep insurance, if it burnt you have 2 options.....either replant at your own costs or pay back all the grants given in relation to the plantation.

ring teagasc for advice if you cant get the company that planted it out for a look

Thanks for the information, especially re insurance.

padraig.od

F.D wrote: »

Just curious in general what would the insurance be costing on a plantation that age? and does it get higher as the years go by (pm me if you want)

Not sure to be honest. But between forestry insurance, public liability on other land, house insurance etc. it all adds up.

padraig.od

temujinhayes wrote: »

it may need a thinning already, depends on growth rates. you may qualify for a thinning grant on the ash, talk to teagasc first then ask the forest service for their list of approved foresters, call some of the ones in your area and get some opinions. fbd for insurance. its a great asset and don't panic!

Thanks for that, I will have a look into the grant on thinning the ash.

greenfingers89

padraig.od wrote: »

Thanks for that, I will have a look into the grant on thinning the ash.

im not sure if the grant route is a good idea for 1.5ha ash. the grant is worth €750/ha BUT a forester/company might charge anything from €3-800 for the paperwork (depending on what exactly is required for this particular application)

so keep it in mind before you engage someone to do the application. if the application is done it will require a higher standard of work in order for the grant to pay out and this will of course be more expensive. the timber will probably be required to help pay for the work. so you need to make sure the ash is doing very very well (considering its age) to produce enough marketable timber from thinnings

if it was my 1.5 ha i'd get a felling licence (free) and go at it myself with a saw (its pretty easy and pleasant work) or maybe get a local guy in there. you'll get a bit of advice from teagasc for free on how to go about the work.

a general guide on when its ready for thinning is 8-10m height. id rather it be a bit stronger in your situation

ford2600

Hi Padraig,
very similar size as my own wood, with same ash conifer mix.
For the Ash, if your capable with a chainsaw do it yourself. Need reliable saw, and proper gear, cahinsaw boots, pants etc. Nice clean healthy work after that. Bring your phone with esp if working alone.
My own has about 30% of trees removed at this stage. Very good quality remaining.

Cut out any diseased trees now. Don't wait, canker spreads quickly.
http://www.teagasc.ie/forestry/docs/research/Teagasc_silvicultural_guidelines_Broadleaves.pdf

For the conifers, see is there any growers group close by. Ring teasasc.

Again you can put in inspection paths yourself, it will open up wood and allow a buyer to examine it.

Join ITGA they have reams of heplful publications(I'm just a member not a recruiter).

Best of luck, if you think of wood as an outdoor free gym your halfway there...

padraig.od wrote: »

Hi,

Just a bit of background - my mother has 7 hectares of forestry planted. Its split 5.5 conifer (spruce I think), 1.5 ash. My father, who would have looked after this in his retirement, died a number of years ago and my mother is a bit lost to be honest.

The forestry was planted about 12 years ago, and its due for a thinning now I'd say. Can anyone recommend a contact for us to talk to about the thinning process? Or where can we get information regarding forestry in general?

In relation to thinning... how does this work? Do we contract in a company to do the thinning? Approximately how much would it cost for 7H? In general, would the thinnings recovered cover the cost of the thinning process?

She also says the cost of insurance is a burden at the moment and is considering dropping it. What companies would sell forestry insurance? I'd like to ring around a few places and get some quotes. Would you recommend it being insured in the first place?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jack180570

padraig.od wrote: »

Hi,

Just a bit of background - my mother has 7 hectares of forestry planted. Its split 5.5 conifer (spruce I think), 1.5 ash. My father, who would have looked after this in his retirement, died a number of years ago and my mother is a bit lost to be honest.

The forestry was planted about 12 years ago, and its due for a thinning now I'd say. Can anyone recommend a contact for us to talk to about the thinning process? Or where can we get information regarding forestry in general?

In relation to thinning... how does this work? Do we contract in a company to do the thinning? Approximately how much would it cost for 7H? In general, would the thinnings recovered cover the cost of the thinning process?

She also says the cost of insurance is a burden at the moment and is considering dropping it. What companies would sell forestry insurance? I'd like to ring around a few places and get some quotes. Would you recommend it being insured in the first place?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Like previous comment, I really do not believe that it is ready for thinning at Yr12... a very early thinning on a very productive forest would be year 14. Again I would say that when it is ready for thinning, the operation will cover costs and leave you with a small profit possibly.
There is a trade-off when it comes to the timing of thinning. Good forest management would say that you should thin early if the site is on the unstable side, if it is very stable you can thin later, early thinnings comprise mostly of pulpwood, late thinnings may have a good proportion of boxwood which is the element that will contribute most to profit. Anyhow, it would be wise to get advice from a forester or Teagasc. From what I have written above you should be able to distinguish between good and bad advice.

Regarding method of sale, I would sell a standing thinnning, so much per T for the wood that is cut and removed. It will be an advantage to you if you have access paths cut in the forest, a felling licence and a road put in because at that stage the prospective buyer can bid you the current market value of the standing timber. You can also offer it for sale without any of these (and not incur the cost of getting these) for a price per ton standing. With a small plantation like this it may be the way to go. The MOST important thing in my opinion is to get the plantation thinned, correctly, at the right time. Usually a first thinning will remove 40-60 tons per ha. So reducing your planted area (SS) by 15% to say 5ha that gives you a sales volume of 200-300T which could be worth anything between 4-10e T standing. The main factors affecting the price achieved will be the amount of boxwood in the thinning and whether its ready to cut now or whether you have to put in the brash paths, road and get the felling licence.

Regarding insurance definitely NOT FBD... the policy is inadequate in several serious ways. You should choose www.forsure.ie, its an excellent policy and it does what it says on the can...
Main differences are:
FBD cover fire brigade charges but not firefighting costs... Forsure cover both up to 70 or 80K
If for example you insure your forest against fire for 50K and it all burns down, with FBD its actually 'up to 50k' and an assessor will come out and then value the forest and estimate the damage.... if you insure your forest for 50K with forsure, and it all burns you get paid 50K.
On replanting... with FBD it is literally that, the cost of replanting the forest... with forsure its the cost of replanting and maintaining it for the following four years, just like the Department want and you will need...

Hope this helps