Woodland Management Advice

[Wtprop3]

Hi there,

 

I'm looking for some advice on the possibility of investing into a woodland management scheme to help provide a sustainable wood source for a firewood business we run from our farm.

 

We have approx 16 acres of woodland comprising of predominantly ash and oak with good road access. At present we only extract fallen timber that is easy to access, which supplements cordwood that is bought in. However, if our woodland was managed properly we would be able to use a greater proportion of our own wood whilst maintaing the woodland for the future.

 

I was therefore wondering if there were any schemes/grants that we could benefit from, and the cost/benefit of paying for the woodland to be managed?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[muldonach]

At 16 acres it will be tough for the woodland to generate enough income to pay management fees.

 

There are grant schemes available for reconfiguring the age structure of existing woodlands etc but the schemes vary considerably depending on which part of the UK you are in. All of them have a bunch of hoops to jump through and to be honest we got a management plan 95% of the way to completion and then threw it in the bin because we could not agree with the FC.

 

That having been said your best option initially is to go to the FC website for your country and do some reading and then probably talk to your local FC office, in my experience they are approachable and helpful - particularly on a small area such as this.

 

However 16 acres of oak and ash is not going to offer much in the way of scale - a pass through to thin and possibly open up some sky by localised felling with associated planting is about all that springs to mind. Although you may want to push through a felling licence to thin all the ash before it dies.

 

I would be tempted to carry on with removing windblow and put a thinning application in so as to be able to remove any trees that need removing - there won't be any grant though.

 

Cheers

mac

[Wtprop3]

Thanks for the advise Mac, I think I'll contact the forestry commission just to see if they have any further suggestions. But as you say, it is probably best to carry on the way we are.

 

 

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[saintsman54]

There is a lot of change in the grant schemes available at the moment as the common agricultural policy is being reformed over the next few years, and the new grants that are being developed haven't had details released properly yet. And the current grants have limited budgets and some have been closed already. So it may be best to wait a couple of years until the Forestry Commission and DEFRA have sorted themselves out and apply for a new scheme. Just so you know all grant schemes in the future will require Management Plans as a prerequisite.

[Stoke Wood Project]

Hi. Where abouts are you?

[ArthurBottlesworth]

Somebody on this forum said getting forestry grants dropped them into trouble with capital gains/death duty on sale of farm ( not sure which) need to keep your eye on this....

[Austin Spanners]

Again, where about are you based?

[codlasher]

I suppose the bottom line is the increment rule; never take out more than 1/2 your annual increment. A bit like interest in your bank/savings.

codlasher

[openspaceman]

I suppose the bottom line is the increment rule; never take out more than 1/2 your annual increment. A bit like interest in your bank/savings.

codlasher

 

Need to take more like 70% to maximise sawlog unless you mean to go beyond the maximum mean annual increment rotation.