There is significant capacity to increase forest cover in Ireland from the current level of 10.8% to 18% according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine forest policy review.
A number of reports have identified increased wood markets including exports, import substitution, employment generation and climate change mitigation as some of the benefits of an increased afforestation programme at national level.
However, local communities will need to see tangible benefits of forestry.
Debate
The recent debate on forestry in Leitrim illustrates both sides of the argument. Those in favour point to revenue from forestry through Government supports and harvesting. Farmers with parcels of land to plant can average over €800/ha in high-yielding spruce forests over the life of the crop. They also point to Masonite, harvesting, wood energy and sawmill enterprises that follow increased afforestation as it matures in a county such as Leitrim.
Those who have serious concerns outline the unfair advantage forestry has in relation to tax-free supports which favour the sector over mainstream farming.
They claim the availability of credit has been seriously restricted by banks which favour forestry over farming development in Leitrim.
That Masonite located in Leitrim despite huge competition from Poland and Scotland in particular illustrates the confidence the company has in forestry in the county. The increase in harvesting, wood energy and processing activity in the county demonstrates the potential of forestry.
The point made by Kenny McCauley that Leitrim could be a pioneering county in renewable wood energy has merit. For example, countries with strong forest cultures favour trees over wind turbines. Austria generates 57% of its renewable energy from wood and 1% from wind.
Forestry is not, and should not, be a land use option to compete with viable agriculture. But in some regions in Ireland, it is the best use of land where other enterprises fail and in some of the wettest most marginal sites, it is the only land use option.
However, the availability of credit to farmers to make the land use choice themselves is essential: farming or forestry – or ideally both. How forestry fits in the landscape in relation to species diversity, forest age classes and setback from dwellings are also issues that need to be addressed if the county is to have a viable forest and farming culture and in the case of Leitrim to maximise its tourism industry.
Leitrim also has the potential to generate more than 800 jobs from its 27,000ha of forests. Brendan Dee (photo) and others in Masonite have seen the benefits of job creation in forestry, but there are many more throughout the forest chain.
Afforestation trends, forest size and ownership in Leitrim
The recent forestry controversy in Leitrim can be traced to the early State afforestation programmes, beginning with the purchase of the old woodland estate of Glenfarne in the 1930s and followed by the establishment of forests at Drumsna and Manorhamilton.
State forestry was then a social endeavour, providing large employment but met with some opposition in Leitrim from a number of farmers who maintained that the State had an unfair advantage in land purchase for forestry.
Since Coillte was established in 1989, it phased out its afforestation programme and by 1993 forest establishment in the county was left to the private sector – mainly farmers who were entitled to annual premium payments denied to Coillte.
Opposition to forestry was directed for a time against private investors but this largely died down in the mid 1990s when the international-scale Masonite board mill decided to locate near Carrick on Shannon in 1995.
Leitrim, like other counties, has experienced peaks and troughs in planting over the decades and, although the common perception is that planting in recent years is at record levels, it is the lowest if assessed over three decades. For example, over the past decade (2006-2015), annual afforestation has averaged 268ha compared with 535ha during the previous decade. This in turn was lower than the 10-year period 1986-1995 when annual afforestation averaged 605ha.
So, who is planting? Over the past six years (2010-2015), farmers have carried out 92% of all planting in Leitrim – 1,766ha compared with 155ha by the private sector (Table 1). It is unlikely that private investors carried out major planting programmes as average afforestation planting sites averaged 7ha compared with 8.4ha by farmers.
It will be interesting to watch future afforestation programmes not just in Leitrim but throughout the country, especially since afforestation premium payments are now the same for farmers and other landowners or investors. There was certainly a significant increase in private investment last year, although 81% of the total afforestation programme was still carried out by farmers.
Annual afforestation in Leitrim is the highest in Ireland. Forest cover is estimated at 17.3%, second to Wicklow (18%) and marginally ahead of Clare at 16.9%.
Leitrim native comes home to Masonite
Masonite, the largest private employer using indigenous materials in Co Leitrim, manufactures moulded door facings for the export market. Like many wood based and forestry enterprises Masonite’s employment and wealth creation extends well beyond the factory gate.
“We employ 125 people and have an annual spend of €25m in the country in terms of sourcing material and additional spinoffs through the wages of our employees and the creation of extra jobs in companies that supply Masonite with materials and services,” said Brendan Dee, purchasing and planning manager with the company and a Leitrim native.
“Spinoffs include the purchase of paint from Valspar in Ballinamore. “This company, which employ a staff of six was set up to supply our paint requirements,” he said. “We have a high spend around the country – in fact, everything sourced for Masonite comes from Ireland bar wax which is imported from Germany.
But the biggest volume of material required for the plant is wood and wood residue which originates in Co Leitrim and surrounding forests as well as residue from sawmills in the region. This has spinoffs for harvesting and haulage contractors, sawmill employees, forest owners, foresters and forestry companies. “The mills throughput is 145,000t of timber comprising 100,000t of wood chips, 10,000t of pulp and 35,000t of lower grade chips,” Brendan said. “An extra 40,000t of wood and residue will be needed to ramp up production over the coming four months.”
The Carrick on Shannon plant experienced the full brunt of the economic downturn as did other Masonite international mills but has recovered and is now ready to increase production by 50% and recently announced 30 new jobs.
The location of Masonite in Carrick on Shannon has been a huge boost to Leitrim where emigration had been rife. “When you left Carrick, you left Carrick,” Brendan said. “You didn’t return apart for the holidays. I was employed in Aer Lingus and like most of the other employees, I would not be back in the county were it not for Masonite.”
There is strong bond between Masonite and the employees. “Over 80% of our employees are with Masonite over 15 years which demonstrates the longevity of jobs and loyalty of company and staff.”
Talking timber in Mohill
Wood energy, sawmilling and farm forestry discussed
While much of the activity in forests takes place during the establishment and harvesting stages, what happens timber when it leaves the forest is important in measuring the wealth of forestry in its own region.
Up until Masonite was established, most of the timber grown and harvested in Leitrim left the county, with few jobs in the processing and added-value sector.
This is changing as Masonite will not only be providing direct employment for 160 people by year end, it also provides large-scale spin-off jobs in services, material supplies, harvesting and transport.
The county is well-serviced by forest harvesting contractors including McMorrow Harvesting & Haulage, Dowra, Harte & Son Harvesting, Dromahair and Lynch Harvesting, Carrigallen. Sawmills and wood product enterprises are also well represented in Crowes Sawmill, Glenfarne Wood Products, and Merenda, while Coillte has a major impact in managing its 14,240ha of forests in the county including leisure forests as part of their open forest policy.
Western Forestry Co-operative Ltd is active in the county through its Mohill office. “This is part of our support service for farmers considering forestry with the objective of improving farm income, creating employment in rural areas and working with local communities to maximise the benefits of a planned forestry programme on rural development,” maintained Marina Conway, Western Forestry CEO.
McCauley Wood Fuels
One of the co-op’s customers is McCauley Wood Fuels, which is an example of how small-scale wood-based enterprises are created if the raw material is available locally.
Brian McCauley (pictured above) and his son Kenny identified a market opportunity for wood chips and firewood in 2008. Brian had experience of small-scale firewood supply over the years so expanding this business made sense especially after the crash in the property market had a negative impact on his landscaping business.
His son Kenny, an engineer working in Dublin, suggested Brian buy a firewood processor as a first step into the wood energy market.
“We followed this up by purchasing a wood chipper to supply the increasing demand for wood energy,” Brian explained. The business began as an enterprise to supplement income from the family farm but is now becoming the main business.
“We supply wood chips to enterprises such as Arigna Fuels, nursing homes, a leisure centre, a 2,000-sow unit and other customers who have converted to wood burning boilers,” he said. “While the wood chips are sold in Leitrim and neighbouring counties, over 80% of the firewood ends up in the Dublin market.”
McCauley’s process approximately 5,000t of logs comprising 3,500t going through as wood chip and 1,500t as firewood.
Kenny, who returns to Mohill on weekends to help out, maintains there is room to expand, especially when the long-awaited Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is introduced early next year.
“With the anticipated increase in demand in wood chip from Bord na Mona and local industrial users, we are hoping to upgrade our processing capacity which should allow us take on more of our own chipping and also contract chipping, where we intend to increase annual production to 10,000t in the next year or two,” he said. “I’d be hopeful that for me, it will become a more full-time role in time to come.”
Regarding afforestation in Leitrim, Kenny said he would welcome an increase in sustainable forestry because he and his father are involved in forestry-derived material, but also because he feels it’s a viable land use for the region.
“In terms of biomass potential and demand, it would lend itself very well as we don’t have a mains gas supply in the county, which should automatically leave biomass energy use here at a great advantage compared to other counties,” he said. “
Crowe’s Sawmill
Nearby, Crowe’s Sawmill, continues to increase production of high added-value fencing, cladding and leisure products. Eestablished in 1903, it is the oldest sawmill in Ireland.
When I visited the mill, they were turning out a range of outdoor leisure furniture for public amenity projects made from high-quality larch harvested in north Cork.
They also made a wise decision in 1989 by establishing a Sitka spruce forest adjoining the mill which acts as a reserve sawlog supply.
Western Forestry
Back in the Western Forestry Co-op Mohill office, Marina Conway outlines the co-op’s plans. “Forestry is viable in Leitrim and while it doesn’t suit everybody, it’s a good news story for a lot of people,” she maintained.
Western Forestry Co-op has been in operation for 31 years and during this time she said it has been promoting forestry to empower farmers to plant their own land, rather than selling it.
“It would be very sad, through lack of accurate information, that some owners would sell their land rather than reap the rewards of planting it themselves,” she said. “That would be the saddest thing to emerge from the recent debate. Farmers should be free to plant the marginal part of their land without experiencing a backlash from those opposed to forestry, which might ultimately result in large-scale non-farmer afforestation investment.”
Patrick Gilhooley (photo), an Aughnasheelin-based farmer, is well positioned to comment on a broad range of farming and other land use issues in Co Leitrim. A former IFA county chairman and current vice-president of IFA Rural Development, he has serious concerns about afforestation including non-farmer investment, planning issues and the performance of banks in favouring credit for forestry over mainstream farming.
“I’m not opposed to forestry providing it’s on a level playing pitch,” he said. “There’s nothing to stop a farmer planting some of his own land if he wishes to do so but the problem is the green light is with him all the way.”
He believes that the availability of credit for forestry over agriculture, tax incentives and generous Government funding including basic payments and forestry premia tilt the balance unfairly in favour of afforestation.
But his concerns extend beyond the economic to social issues and how he perceives forestry not just changing the landscape but a way of life which he believes needs to be retained and developed. While he doesn’t doubt the assertion that Leitrim produces high-yield forests, he said the performance of agriculture has been overlooked and underrated when discussing forestry. “It should be remembered that Leitrim has five livestock marts and this county produces the best store cattle not only in Ireland but in Europe,” he said. “The best suckler cows are in Leitrim and surrounding areas, including Sligo, north Roscommon, south Donegal and west Cavan.
He maintained that farmers should be encouraged to develop their farms. The Government and the banks have a major role in making low interest credit available to farmers in developing their own farms and increasing the size of their holdings.
“There is nothing wrong with a farmer planting a proportion of his own land but when land becomes available local farmers cannot compete with outside investors and vulture funds,” he maintained. In addition to credit availability, he outlined a number of innovative ways of allowing farmers to swap forestry land for agricultural land so that farm development is not subsumed in the spread of afforestation.
He also objects to the pace of afforestation which proceeds with minimal planning restrictions. He called for the erection of transparent notices on planting sites as well as notification in local papers. “If a farmer decides to build a shed or extension he has to get planning permission, but in the case of forestry, land is bought up and no notification to plant is given,” he said.
He supports agri-tourism and related issues which would maximise tourism revenue in the county. He says that forests need better planning in relation to how they blend in the landscape and where they are located. He proposes much greater setback from dwellings of neighbouring farmers.
But the economic climate has to be right to create the right environment to develop farms, he said. “The current policy is wrong – it’s a one-sided coin with huge concessions given to those who wish to invest pension funds in Leitrim where they will receive a tax-free return on all income.”
Frank Nugent
Frank Nugent (photo), a former secretary of Leitrim IFA and member of the county forestry committee agrees with Pat Gilhooley that credit is a major issue.
“The current problem is land ownership and it may be necessary for a state body or the European Social Fund to intervene and assist or guarantee long-term loans for the purchase of land by young farmers who will then be in a position to compete with all comers when purchasing land,” he said. They will then be in a position to farm and if they wish or plant a portion of their marginal land he maintained.