Single Farm Payment

Fermec

Looking for a bit of Advice here Folks. We have 20 acres of Forestry in the Home Block, It was Planted in the 90s, & we havnt Drawn any Premium,s since 2006, So apart from a Light Tinning 2 years ago Its Not Making any money for us. My Question is,? From what i hear & Read Its Looking Like Going Forward the Single Farm Payment will be Land/Acre Based.& It wont Matter What Stock you have, Correct me if im Wrong Here. So would it Make Since for me to Clearfell all 20 Acres of it & Put it Back into Land? & Cut My Losses on the Timber,Cos it will Take at Least Another 10 Years for it to Mature. The Reason i say This Is Because The Next Couple of Years are Looking Like They could be "Reference" Years..Again Correct me if im Wrong. Sorry For Long Post & i Hope Im Clear here, But i dont Want To Miss the Boat Either.. Thanks:)

rancher

Fermec wrote: »

Looking for a bit of Advice here Folks. We have 20 acres of Forestry in the Home Block, It was Planted in the 90s, & we havnt Drawn any Premium,s since 2006, So apart from a Light Tinning 2 years ago Its Not Making any money for us. My Question is,? From what i hear & Read Its Looking Like Going Forward the Single Farm Payment will be Land/Acre Based.& It wont Matter What Stock you have, Correct me if im Wrong Here. So would it Make Since for me to Clearfell all 20 Acres of it & Put it Back into Land? & Cut My Losses on the Timber,Cos it will Take at Least Another 10 Years for it to Mature. The Reason i say This Is Because The Next Couple of Years are Looking Like They could be "Reference" Years..Again Correct me if im Wrong. Sorry For Long Post & i Hope Im Clear here, But i dont Want To Miss the Boat Either.. Thanks:)

As far as I know any forestry that is clearfelled has to be replanted, and must be in forestry forever

robp

rancher wrote: »

As far as I know any forestry that is clearfelled has to be replanted, and must be in forestry forever

I think if the premium is repaid it can cleared but check the forestry forum.

Username John

Fermec wrote: »

Looking for a bit of Advice here Folks. We have 20 acres of Forestry in the Home Block, It was Planted in the 90s, & we havnt Drawn any Premium,s since 2006, So apart from a Light Tinning 2 years ago Its Not Making any money for us. My Question is,? From what i hear & Read Its Looking Like Going Forward the Single Farm Payment will be Land/Acre Based.& It wont Matter What Stock you have, Correct me if im Wrong Here. So would it Make Since for me to Clearfell all 20 Acres of it & Put it Back into Land? & Cut My Losses on the Timber,Cos it will Take at Least Another 10 Years for it to Mature. The Reason i say This Is Because The Next Couple of Years are Looking Like They could be "Reference" Years..Again Correct me if im Wrong. Sorry For Long Post & i Hope Im Clear here, But i dont Want To Miss the Boat Either.. Thanks:)

Hello Fermec,
I am open to correction on this - but is there something around taking land out of forestry after claiming premiums? (Do you have to pay back the premiums?)
Its a Q for the guys in the forestry forum first maybe?

Ah - this is where I got that idea...

rancher

robp wrote: »

I think if the premium is repaid it can cleared but check the forestry forum.

You need a felling license to cut trees, so I got some information on them

A General Felling Licence is usually valid for five years and tends to be used for fellings on larger areas and all grant aided plantations. Replanting must take place on the same area that has been clearfelled. A management plan outlining all fellings for the entire rotation can be submitted, and resubmitted at the end of a 5 year period if no changes are required

treefan

can this be moved to forestry which might generate more answers for the OP

Fermec

Ok , I didnt Think to Ask in the Forestry Section First. Thanks for that.

JohnBoy

there's also a possiblility that the SFP will be claimable on forestry. it's already claimable on recently established forestry, so they may allow it on established forestry.


I wouldnt go doing anything right now to second guess what rules the new system will be based on right now, it's all too far up in the air.

Rovi

Moved to Forestry forum.

Fermec

Fair Enough, I Know its all a Bit Up in the Air i Suppose, Wait & See. Thanks again for all the Advice:)

manjou

Would talk to forestry consultant because you may have to repay establishment grant as well as premiun which is alot of money.But would make sure before you do anything.If it is only 10 years away from clearfell would wait as could be worth a good bit of money more than any sfp per year. As regards sfp in 2014 nobody knows so would wait and see. That is what i am doing if can still claim sfp on forestry and premiums i will plant rest of land.

Fermec

, I dont Understand the Last Line in your Post. You Mean you are going to Claim SFP On your Forestry?...

manjou

At the moment any land planted in last few years cant remenber year you can claim your sfp and forestry premium provided you leave 10% of land unplanted.Now will wait till announcment to see in 2014 if you can do same which would mean nice income from land.

Fermec

Oh Right i See. Ours was Planted in 1990. So we stopped drawing premiums in 2006. If i could get the SFP On it That would be great. Cos Like i said its Making No Money at the Moment. Wait untill 2014 & see then i suppose.

Harwarder

Firstly if the site was thinned two years ago it will most likely be ready for second thinning in 1 to 2 years presuming it is a Sitka spruce plantation. If this is the case have a foresstry consultant assess the plantation and be sure that they carry out a full Inventory of the timber. The consultant should give you advice on when to thin and how much timber is making. When thinned again it will be making money for you.

Secondly: If you clear any forestry that received grant premium you will have to pay back all premiums received plus the establishment grant received by the Forestry company that planted and maintained it for the first four years. The Forest Service don't like this at all. Another option that can be given by the Forest Service is to plant the same amount of land somewhere else on your farm out of your own pocket and receive no grants. With Clearfell timber making a lot of money at the ,moment it would be wise to wait another 10 years to see the real benefit (in your pocket).

Jack180570

Fermec wrote: »

Looking for a bit of Advice here Folks.We have 20 acres of Forestry in the Home Block, It was Planted in the 90s, & we havnt Drawn any Premium,s since 2006, So apart from a Light Tinning 2 years ago Its Not Making any money for us. My Question is,? From what i hear & Read Its Looking Like Going Forward the Single Farm Payment will be Land/Acre Based.& It wont Matter What Stock you have, Correct me if im Wrong Here. So would it Make Since for me to Clearfell all 20 Acres of it & Put it Back into Land? & Cut My Losses on the Timber,Cos it will Take at Least Another 10 Years for it to Mature. The Reason i say This Is Because The Next Couple of Years are Looking Like They could be "Reference" Years..Again Correct me if im Wrong. Sorry For Long Post & i Hope Im Clear here, But i dont Want To Miss the Boat Either.. Thanks:)

Hi Fermec, you have raised a few issues here and iwill do my bbest to answer. ..
SFP... it is currently an area based payment and looks likely that the reform of it will entail a degree of flattening and a cap on max payments... EU wants 270 euro per ha paid to all farmers everywhere Irish Gvt wants higher payments retained as far as possible. ... result probably will lie somewhere in between.
Clearfell and not replant... u will have to repay all grants and premiums. .. IF the Forest Service agree to your request.
Overall I wouldn't recommend you take this course of action. Your forest, as suggested by another poster is going to return good money from thinnings and Clearfell in a relatively short time.