Orchards?

Merrion

Anyone growing fruit for harvest? What are the economics like?

There's a parcel of land that really isn't good for anything but trees but I don't want to see it covered in pines - are fruit trees viable/sensible?

fergus1001

If your going to produce cider or grow apples ect it might be but how long would you wait to see the trees bear fruit ?

You can plant broadleaf like oak and beach and get 249 euro per acre for 15 years for having them there, what's the land like ?

Merrion

Currently pasture on the slope of a hill and down to the river - mature trees on the outer boundaries... there's a couple of small streams through it which means fencing it for animals would result in a crazy maze and the pine forestry downstream is blocking up the outflow so the land is getting to be too wet to put a tractor over any more (in my opinion).

Broadleaf does seem to be the most economically sensible - but road access is not great for any extraction of trees as the road is quite high up the hill, so that may just cause a headache down the road (pun intended ;-) )

Also - I've a sort of idea that anything that is effectively a zero work option would be less incentive to future generations to stay in the area..which is emptying at an alarming rate as things stand.

fergus1001

There is always something to be done with forestry and at least your producing something from the land that seems to be otherwise unproductive, with broadleaves your not talking about large machinery just tractors would do it to thin out the crop