Getting an extra €975/ha to graze between the trees

Farmers can receive annual payments of €975/ha for 10 years without impacting their current direct payments, if they plant agro-forestry and graze livestock between the trees.

An establishment grant of €8,555/ha is available for livestock farmers planting agro-forestry, with the equivalent being €6,000/ha for tillage farmers.

Tillage agro-forestry receives a lower yearly premium at €829/ha than is offered for keeping agro-forestry lands.

Agro-forestry can be planted with tree densities as low as 400 trees/ha when equally spaced across a parcel and can rise as high as 1,000 trees/ha.

Trees can be planted in lines at specified distances or in groups of between 20 to 40 trees, at closer spacing of as little as 2m by 2m.

Land remains classed as forestry once planting has taken place and agro-forestry should be managed as continuous cover forestry, with some small levels of planting required after successive thinning to keep cover in the plot.

The usual afforestation licensing requirements apply to agro-forestry as apply to more typical plantations.

Agro-forestry in Donegal

A farm walk organised by forestry company Greenbelt saw recently-established agro-forestry in action on an organic sheep farm near Rathmullan, Co Donegal.

The farmer planted in lines 8m apart with 3m between trees within rows, with bio-degradable tubes placed around the trees to prevent stock from stripping bark off trees.

Planting was done last May and the farmer does not expect to have to lower the stocking rate. The tubes are secured to half posts with wire and the posts themselves prevent trees from getting knocked over by the sheep.

Steel mesh, like sheep wire, will be placed around the trees as they grow and push out through the biodegradable tubes.

There are usually no up-front costs for the farmer when going through a forestry service provider, such as Greenbelt.

The Donegal farmer chose a mix of birch, alder, rowan and hazel, with oak planted as every third three. Species will depend on factors including soil type and time of planting.

Land type will ideally be a site below 200m elevation on free-draining mineral soils.

After approximately 10 years, a canopy will start to form and lighter trees can be thinned to aid the development of an appropriate canopy.

It will be generally species like alder that shoot up the quickest in the chosen mix, requiring the earliest thinning, to allow the site be managed towards establishing continuous cover oak across the plot.

Timber harvesting returns are modest in agro-forestry as the bulk of timber harvested is generally thinnings only suitable for mulching or firewood .

Greenbelt forester David Sweeney handled the Donegal farm’s application and he explained the importance of planning out the planting layout at the farm walk, taking into consideration plans to continue to graze and top the plot.

“What we do is we come in first and run along where the trees will be planted.

“We drive in the round posts in a straight line, then plant the trees, put the tube on and then the split post goes in before we tie them all together to support the tubes,” Sweeney said.

“You think about what you plan on doing when you are deciding on the spacing.

“You could leave two widths of a mower if you plan on cutting silage or the width of a dribble bar if the land is going to get slurry. The spacing can be pushed out to 10m or in to 3m,” he said.

Balance

The lay of the land can complicate the plot planting layout, as there is a balance between keeping trees appropriately spaced and ensuring the lines do not hinder fieldwork.

“It’s not as simple when the ground isn’t even to put in lines of trees so that you don’t get lines going every way, but if you are looking to do tractor work like topping, it is quite handy if the lines go in all directions,” he went on.

“Here on this farm, it’s organic so you can’t spray, so you will be looking at topping to control your rushes. Having trees all over the place would leave it more difficult to manage.”

There are the same set back distances for agro-forestry that are in place for regular plantations regarding features such as waterways, housing and hedges. It is recommended that the headland between the last row of trees and the field boundary be left at least 5m to 6m in width to allow tractors and equipment to turn around when carrying out fieldwork.

The Department says that appropriate machinery should be chosen when cutting fodder in an agro-forestry area to prevent damage to the trees.

Parcels planted with agro-forestry may be grazed by sheep, poultry or young calves during spring, summer and autumn for the first six to eight years, according to the Forestry Programme.

Forestry parcels established with Department funding must be protected with new fencing where the plot is not stock-proofed by existing fencing, waterways or walls. Electric fencing does not suffice.

Fencing grants are available and some farmers may need to consider fencing their plot from deer, depending on local deer populations.

An overall cap of €50,000 applies to forestry fencing grant claims, with high payment rates for IS 436 fencing.

Payment rates issue at the following rates for IS 436 fencing:

The payment rates for non-IS 436 fencing are:

Licensing red tape

Director of business development at Greenbelt Maurice Ryan explained his frustrations with it taking longer to obtain permission to plant trees, especially in agro-forestry plots, which have lower planting densities and do not require drainage works.

“You could get permission to build a house quicker than you would to plant forestry – that just doesn’t make sense.

“We are hopeful that these delays are something that can be addressed in the mid-term review of the Forestry Programme.”

Farmers should be conscious of these delays when planning on planting as the licensing process could push the start date for planting back seven or eight months from when the decision is made to plant. The lands in Donegal fell under the category of high nature value (HNV) farmland, meaning that an ecologist’s report with a habitat map was required as part of the planning process. These ecology reports, which could also include a full environmental impact assessment may have to be carried out at a specified time of the year – such as a summer ecology report. Land in National Heritage Areas may also require an archaeology report. A payment of up to €2,050 will be paid out on forestry applications subject to environmental or archaeological reporting requirements, but payment will only issue once planting gets underway.

Payment rates with organic scheme

The Donegal farmer can still receive Organic Farming Scheme payments of €300/ha for the first two years of conversion and €250/ha for the next three years in the CAP scheme, in addition to getting agro-forestry payments.

New entrants to the organic scheme may see their payments in later years change subject to post-2027 scheme changes.

An additional lump sum of €2,000 is paid in the first year of conversion, with €1,400 paid for the remaining years.

So far under the Forestry Programme for 2023-2027, Greenbelt reported to have witnessed the strongest farmer interest in agro-forestry in counties Donegal and Galway, as well as parts of the south-west.

Ryan said that those establishing agro-forestry have typically been part-time drystock farmers and farmers with no identified successor.

Some of the attractiveness of agro-forestry is the perception of the option as a lesser change than converting farmland to a more traditional forestry plantation type.

Another trend seen by Greenbelt’s foresters with agro-forestry is that the cohort of farmers only planting a portion of their lands generally opt to plant the lands furthest away from yards.

“On a farm like this, the farmer can continue to graze his sheep and top the rushes. He is continuing his farming enterprise, but still have payments coming in from forestry,” Ryan continued.

“Over 10 years, he will earn €975/ha each year which is quite a nice add on to his farming enterprise. It is not as big of a change in land use as traditional woodland creation or forestry establishment.”