Money to burn
Farmers with forestry are realising there’s cash to be made from thinnings. What’s the best way to exploit your resources?
John Jackson talks about the merits of Sitka spruce on an open day at his farm. Beside him is a sign showing the current price of oil
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This was clearly demonstrated at a recent open day on John Jackson's farm near Ballybofey, Co Donegal. Through the Donegal Forest Link, the county has become something of a leader in developing the potential of wood energy. By bringing all interested groups together, they have assisted the promotion of forestry within Donegal and enabled farm foresters, such as John, to establish a viable fuel supply business. Not content with this, John also sells fencing posts and strainers with the remainder sold for wood pulp. The value of timber for pulp is approximately half that obtainable for fencing material and the production of quality fuel is worth even more.
John specialises in producing seasoned logs for sale to log gasifier owners and cuts logs to a precise length for this market. He is fortunate that there are a number of homeowners in the area who heat their houses using log gasifier systems. They find logs an efficient and economical fuel and this market looks set to increase in the coming years. It appears increasingly likely that oil will become unviable as a means of supplying heat, and while this has serious implications for the national economy it may well prove a lifesaver for farmers engaged in forestry.
The cost of filling a tank with 1,000 litres of home heating oil is now passing the €1,000 mark and no one knows where it will stop. In the meantime, we all have to provide heat and hot water to our homes, but how can we afford to do so?
Locally-sourced wood fuel is one obvious answer and for a number of years now I have been heating my home economically with logs from my own woodland. There is, of course, a substantial cost for the labour and machinery expenses when harvesting timber, but €1,000 goes a long way, especially when this money is directed into the local economy and not towards the oil companies. This is the key issue in the whole fuel debate. Are we going to continue to import increasingly-expensive fuel from abroad or will we use the natural advantage we have to grow trees and utilise the thinnings for fuel?
Grants axed
This of course raises the larger question of how serious the Department of Agriculture is about promoting forestry. Already the change of ministers in the department has not produced any new initiatives.
Quite the opposite in fact, and the rumoured axing of the promised thinning grants speaks volumes for their commitment to the forestry sector.
Ninety million spent on the suckler cow scheme is a wonderful boost for that sector but one has to wonder how serious our Government is about reducing the national fuel bill when they can downgrade forestry in this manner. Just half a million would go a long way to enable farmers to start the necessary work of managing broadleaf plantations. This is a lot of money, but taken in the context of the ninety million for suckler cow owners, it does not seem excessive. No one begrudges the suckler cow owners their good fortune, but the potential saving to the national economy of a thriving wood energy sector is huge and it is not rocket science to work out the figures. It is estimated that 4,000 jobs would be created from utilising home-produced fuel crops with millions saved on imports, but our masters in the Department of Agriculture seem to see it differently. They of course blame the Department of Finance for their inaction but this is nonsense. Agriculture has its own budget and forestry has always struggled to gain recognition for the contribution it makes in terms of rural jobs, environmental benefits and as a substitute for imported timber and fuel.
In the meantime, those of us who can, will use our natural advantages and heat our homes with locally-produced fuel.
But the potential for this to happen on a national scale is being hampered by disinterest on the part of our ministers in agriculture and forestry.
Saving a fortune
John Jackson told me of a hotel owner in Donegal who now heats his buildings with wood chip and since making the switch from oil is, in his own words, "saving a fortune".
A simple wood-burning stove is a cheap and clean way to reduce home fuel costs or one can use any of the more sophisticated systems available and save large sums in the process. Just look at what is happening in Donegal.
- Joe Barry
