The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has announced increases in supports (grant rates and premiums where relevant) for the following schemes under the Forestry Programme 2023-2027.

Fencing

New rates of €7/m are approved for stock, sheep and rabbit fencing and €5.50/m for stock using IS436 posts and strainers. These rates are capped at €880/ha for IS436 material and €540/ha for non IS436, based on a maximum of 160m/ha.

IS436 is a certified standard for fencing material accepted by the Department for grant approval. New fencing rates have also been announced for deer upgrade fencing (€9/m), deer (€18/m) and deer/rabbit fencing (€18/m) .

Environment report grant (ERG)

The ERG grant aims “to help offset additional regulatory requirements in the application process”. This varies according to area.

For example, a 2ha afforestation area receives €850 while a 10ha application receives €1,550 to cover the cost of an environmental report.

Agroforestry system

Agroforestry comprises silvopastoral systems (trees and grass) and two pilot schemes – silvoarable systems (trees and crops) and forest gardening (establishment of small-scale food forests). Farmers availing of agroforestry are entitled to enter the Organic Farming Scheme.

Infrastructure and technology

Support for forest road construction up to €55/m at a density of 25m/ha and up to €10,000 for special construction works. There are new supports in nursery and machinery interventions, including a forest technology challenge grant of €100,000 and €50,000 grants for forest machinery and nursery investment aid.

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)

PES promotes the longer-term sustainable management of forests, including maximisation of environment benefits. There are six PES schemes with grant rates varying from €90/ha to €500/ha.

There are also incentives for continuous cover forestry, climate resilient reforestation and knowledge transfer.

The Irish Farmers Journal will ?run a full report on the various supports in the 7 January edition, while further details on the schemes and implementation dates “will be advised by circular shortly,” according to the Department of Agriculture.