Question on value of sitka spruce crop

black powder colt

I have 8 acres of sitka spruce that will be 20 years old next year and i would like to clearfell and reclaim the land for other crops or cattle i relise i will have to pay back all my premium and grant money i figure this will cost between 35000 and 40000 grand so i would like a general idea of the value of the trees as for firewood or other purpeses i know there are lots of things to consider in estimateing a price but would i make my 40 grand back and maby a bit with it.any help would be great

Good loser

I doubt it the trees would net €1,000 per acre.

Have you checked if the land would be eligible for Area Aid after you harvest?

Daithi BC

If you look at this page: http://www.greenbelt.ie/investments/investment-information/why-forestry.html, you'll see a figure for clearfell of a well-managed plantation at 35 years of 8,000 an acre. I'm sure that's a best case scenario. If you're only at 20 years, you're not going to be getting into the premium markets, and your timber volume is going to be much less, so I would guess 1,000 to 2,000 an acre.

Definitely worth checking if you could claim SFP on the land after clearfelling as well.

locky76

black powder colt wrote: »

I have 8 acres of sitka spruce that will be 20 years old next year and i would like to clearfell and reclaim the land for other crops or cattle i relise i will have to pay back all my premium and grant money i figure this will cost between 35000 and 40000 grand so i would like a general idea of the value of the trees as for firewood or other purpeses i know there are lots of things to consider in estimateing a price but would i make my 40 grand back and maby a bit with it.any help would be great

You'll have around €65k worth of grants to pay back (€4k per acres installation & €200 per acre per annum).
You'll then have the expense of trying to get the land back into a half decent seed bed, this will probably require two or three reseeds with different crops (3 reseeds x €200/acre x 8= €4,800).
The timber itself will only generate €2.5k per acre max (20M3 per acre Yield class= 20(YC) x 20 (Years) x 8 (acres) x €6 (price for pulpwood harvested)=€19,200
So net you're looking at €50k (€7k/acre), i doubt whether it would be worth it, what's the land itself like, it's normally marginal land that's planted.
NOTE- all calculations above are back of cigarette pack economics, they are near enough the mark though.

greenfingers89

locky76 wrote: »

You'll have around €65k worth of grants to pay back (€4k per acres installation & €200 per acre per annum).
You'll then have the expense of trying to get the land back into a half decent seed bed, this will probably require two or three reseeds with different crops (3 reseeds x €200/acre x 8= €4,800).
The timber itself will only generate €2.5k per acre max (20M3 per acre Yield class= 20(YC) x 20 (Years) x 8 (acres) x €6 (price for pulpwood harvested)=€19,200
So net you're looking at €50k (€7k/acre), i doubt whether it would be worth it, what's the land itself like, it's normally marginal land that's planted.
NOTE- all calculations above are back of cigarette pack economics, they are near enough the mark though.

i reckon you didnt even use the back of a cigarette box:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

4k per acre establishment i think is way off, bout 4k per HECTARE id say

Yield Class is based on HECTARE not acre units. so your a million miles away.

7k per acre is an outrageous figure (mainly down to the fact that these calculation figures are so wrong)

OP it would make way more sense to buy 8 acres somewhere else you'd save yourself a fortune. if your interested in loosing a lot of money then what your propsing is the way to go

locky76

greenfingers89 wrote: »

i reckon you didnt even use the back of a cigarette box:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

4k per acre establishment i think is way off, bout 4k per HECTARE id say

Yield Class is based on HECTARE not acre units. so your a million miles away.

7k per acre is an outrageous figure (mainly down to the fact that these calculation figures are so wrong)

OP it would make way more sense to buy 8 acres somewhere else you'd save yourself a fortune. if your interested in loosing a lot of money then what your propsing is the way to go

Ah Greenfingers, you're always at me;)!
I suppose even with my wayout calculations I came to the same conclusion that you are better off buying 8 acres rather than trying to reclaim it.
Saying that the parcel of land may have sentimental value so come on Greenfingers, show us your calculations so we can see how much it will cost the OP to reclaim the land...