Windblown crops which were planted over 27 years ago are achieving good revenues but younger plantations are incurring major losses, a Teagasc field day event heard last week.

Over 150 forest owners with storm damage attended the recent windblow field day in Pyers O’Conor Nash’s forest outside Castlerea.

The event outlined how owners of storm damaged forests can maximise income when salvaging blown timber. The 29-year-old forest, has a stocking rate of 520m³/ha.

Managed by Western Forestry Co-operative, it achieved an average price of €40-45/m³ which translates to approximately €22,000/ha.

Had it reached its full rotation, the forest would have yielded 600m³/ha and would have achieved at least €55/m³or over €30,000/ha due to the yield increases coupled with a higher lucrative large sawlog content.

The loss to O’Conor Nash’s forest was exacerbated by the difficulty in harvesting windblown trees.

“Harvesting is slow and costs can increase by 40% compared with a standing sale,” said harvesting operator Derek McKeon of DT Forestry Ltd.

However, the field day demonstrated that owners of well-managed spruce forests on either side of 30 years will achieve a good return on investment despite storm damage. “It’s important to focus on the lengths of logs and top diameters to maximise return for the sawlog categories,” Victor Barber of Western Forestry Co-op told the attendees.

Timber categories

The timber was categorised in the following lengths with most in the large sawlog (4.9m), and medium (pallet) sawlog (3.7m) sizes, while there is a good market for stake (3.45m) and pulp (3.0m) was minimised. Martin Beirne, Western Forestry Co-op, told the group that growers with blown forest in the 20-year old age group won’t be so lucky and will incur major losses. “These owners should put pressure on their local politicians to provide realistic compensation,” he said.

A Department of Agriculture survey shows that 19% of blown crops are less than 20 years old while 57% are in the 21-30 year category. “Harvesters are unlikely to be attracted to crops less than 20 years old,” maintained Victor Barber as yield and revenue will be low and harvesting costs high.

From discussions with foresters, these crops may be carrying standing volume around 140m³/ha, mainly pulpwood or firewood.

At current prices of €18 to €20/m³, revenue may be little more €2,600/ha, which is well short of even the €3,800 reforestation costs.

Blown forests in the 20-25 year old range will fare better as they will contain some stakewood and pallet. They are likely to have standing volumes be around 250m³/ha and with prices averaging €30/m³, revenue close to €7,000/ha could be achieved.

This will cover afforestation costs, but depending on yield class, it represents a loss of up to €20,000/ha compared to a normal rotation forest with a 28 to 33 year rotation.

Teagasc field days in younger crops are now required to assess yield and revenue and to estimate losses and compensation. Tom Houlihan, Teagasc said he and his team will take stock of the three events organised so far and assess the feedback. “In the meantime we will support forest owner groups who are planning field days,” he said.