6.5 acres - too small a plot for forestry

duffysfarm

i am just after buying 6.5 acres. i am not sure what to do with it and was thinking of forestry but was wondering would that size of a plot be too small to be thinking of planting? i would like to farm the land but it has no water, no fencing and no cattle handling facilities and is a bit away from my other land

Donald Trump

duffysfarm wrote: »

i am just after buying 6.5 acres. i am not sure what to do with it and was thinking of forestry but was wondering would that size of a plot be too small to be thinking of planting? i would like to farm the land but it has no water, no fencing and no cattle handling facilities and is a bit away from my other land

You'd want to have gotten it for cheap enough to be planting it if you paid cash for it.


Just be aware that it's basically a one-way decision. Once it's in forestry, there's (effectively) no going back.

timfromtang

Whats the quality of the land like?


Whilst planting it in forestry may devalue the land a bit, the right quality land planted with the right species can be quite profitable, and the benefits to the farm of the woodland produce should not be discounted, it can provide at the very least some food, lots of fencing materials, and firewood, for the home farm.



Planting such a small parcel for the grant money alone would not make sense given that it may devalue the land also.


If you are planting a woodland it should be because a woodland can provide you with stuff you need, not because some suit in an office is going to give you a brown envelope.



Sitka (high profit /short rotation) would also not be really good as the parcel is too small and harvesting costs would suck the good out of it.


If the land quality is right and you have an idea of a species mix to plant, and an idea of how you'll sell the trees or other produce to make money then you have a runner.


For Example,
On better land
A mix of

Walnut 15%

nut crop and VERY valuable timber 70-120 year rotation, difficult to grow with good form.

Spanish Chestnut 65%

provides edible nuts, if coppiced gives a regular output of durable straight fencing poles from year 15 onwards, valuable timber in standard trees grown to full size.

Cherry 20%

short rotation for a hardwood very valuable timber.


This would provide a regular income over the rotation from an annual/biannual fencing materials harvest from the Spanish chestnut.
To do this you would divide your chestnut into 16 or 8 portions, and coppice each on an annual/biannual basis for fencing material.
With the right varieties of Walnut there is potential for an occasional bumper crop of valuable tasty walnuts.
The Cherry will mature early and can be profitably sold for furniture making from about year 40 onwards.
The Walnut will provide your youngest children with a lovely big windfall in their 70's and 80's.
All three species should naturally regenerate if carefully managed and over time species from surrounding areas will add to the diversity of your woodland. If the parcel was managed on a continuous cover basis from the beginning, then it would be possible to regularly harvest high value mature timber from the woodland on a continuous basis from year 50 onwards or so, with income from spanish chestnut fencing poles and rails bridging the gap from year 15, and grant bridging the gap from year 0 to 15.


tim

wayoutwest

Hi Tim - would the walnut and chesnut trees produce decent nuts in an Irish climate....is there anyone producing/harvesting them in Ireland?

timfromtang

wayoutwest wrote: »

Hi Tim - would the walnut and chesnut trees produce decent nuts in an Irish climate....is there anyone producing/harvesting them in Ireland?

In a forestry planting any fruit/nut output is going to be sporadic, it's not an orchard after all, and the wildlife will get most of it for sure.


In our own forest we have had edible chestnuts from trees planted in 2004, they are small, and do not yield every year, but they are young yet, I have not yet seen any "baby" chestnut trees (natural regen) but would not expect to until a year or two after the first thinning (Jan 2018).


I have not any walnuts old enough yet to speak from experience concerning nut yield. I understand that the variety planted has a big impact here, and would suggest that if a nut yield is important to you that you plant a few specific varieties of walnuts for that purpose in carefully chosen locations (best aspect, soil, etc).


http://fruitandnut.ie/
Info and trees for sale here
even a small number of specialist fruiting varieties like these included in your planting can make an impact.


In any case, in the planting scheme that I described in the previous post, yields through the rotation primarily come from timber sales, fencing material from spanish chestnut coppice managed from year 15 or so, and high value hardwoods from year 50 onwards. The fruit and nut yields I would expect to benefit only the friends and family of the forest owner, i.e. pick em an eat em and share em with your friends.



If a wide variety of fruit and nut trees were planted throughout, this would massively increase the amenity value of the forest.


tim

wayoutwest

Thanks Tim - Great info as always.

Water John

Could the field provide winter feed for whatever stock you keep on the home farm?