Information on woodland thinning at your fingertips
There is positive news for timber growers in that wood energy markets are continuing to develop apace.
This outlet should help improve prices being paid for forest thinnings. Late thinning can significantly increase the risk of windblow in a forest, the greatest risk for timber growers, and late thinning also reduces the cumulative volume production of a crop.
Now is the time for action on thinning for those woodland areas that are either at or approaching thinning age.
Also, with the increased interest in afforestation it is important that growers can source contact details for a variety of service providers in the forest industry from those that buy or undertake thinning to those who plant.
The most comprehensive directory available to forest owners is available in the ITGA Forestry & Timber Yearbook and on www.forestryyearbook.ie with details and contact addresses for companies, consultants, enterprises and organisations involved in Irish forestry and the forest products and wood-energy sectors.
The ITGA Forestry & Timber Yearbook and associated websites are the established forest industry reference source, and in addition to the large directory contain a range of articles covering topics such as woodland taxation; timber markets and prices for growers; and forestry grant schemes. It also includes a comprehensive forestry statistics section.
The stronghold of the yearbook is the 44-page industry directory containing valuable contact details for almost 200 companies, contacts and organisations involved in the forest industry.
The related websites www.forestryyearbook.ie and www.forestry.ie are attracting a large volume of web traffic and becoming increasingly popular with timber growers.
- Joe Barry
Irish Independent
