Minister reveals forestry plans at Talking Timber 2025 (2025)

The forestry and timber industries have come under the spotlight of late due to the damage brought upon Irish forests and rural areas generally by the winter storms.

Teagasc were not long in responding to the many questions and challengers posed by the havoc that had been wrought, arranging an immediate assessment of the extent and degree of the damage along with events for forestry owners faced with clearing up the mess.

One such presentation was the annual Talking Timber 2025 event, which was held this year in Ballinobe Sligo, where the main theme was dealing with the aftermath of the storms.

Damage confirmed

Three months after the storms struck, the government has confirmed that 25,000ha of forest suffered windfall, which amounts to around 3.3% of the national total, with an equal split between state and privately owned plantations.

This is a sizable chunk of woodland, but clearing it up is likely to involve trees which remain untouched but are adjoining the stricken patches on the same plantation.

It will usually be the sensible course to clear-fell these still standing areas at the same time as the fallen trees, and Teagasc are advising owners to do whatever is possible to simplify future management of the plantation.

Quite how much this will add to the total affected by the storms is an unknown figure at the moment, yet early indications are that it will not rise above 10% of that which is already down.

Minister Healy-Rae weighs in

The conference was opened by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM),Michael Healy-Rae, who addressed the question of forestry management and safety issues.

Minister Healy-Rae said that all forestry areas should require certification by law rather than on a voluntary basis, a suggestion that did not meet with unanimous approval in the afternoon discussion session.

Further legislation, which the minister hinted to be in the pipeline, will address the issue of repair to essential services after storms, along with farm safety, in regard to which the chainsaw in particular was mentioned by Healy-Rae.

Building a future for forestry

Yet besides these headline-grabbing notes, the minister did offer an optimistic vision for the forestry sector, rather than simply suggesting that life would go on as normal with a few tweaks here and there.

Being an owner of woodland himself, Healy-Rae appeared to be well on top of his brief and appeared to want to stand with the owners and growers rather than come across as a talking head for DAFM.

Much of this was appreciated by the audience, as it was generally held to be a fresh and welcome approach, especially the minister’s commitment to making the department a hub of help and advice.

Yet the compulsory certification of woodland stood out like a sore thumb, as the minister otherwise spoke of liberalisation and the state having no role to play in how farmers crop their land.

Planning is key

Among the speakers at the event was Christian Fitzgerald, forestry development officer for Teagasc, who reiterated much of the advice already given, which was not to panic – there is time to sort out and recover the timber.

According to Fitzgerald, assessment and planning are the essentials. He said it was larger, more mature trees that were mostly affected, and so most were already under a a thinning or clearance licence, each of which can be easily upgraded to the other simply by informing the ministry.

He also urged that a contract with a mill be settled and agreed before moving the crop, and noted that despite the sudden availability of wood in Ireland there will still be an export market.

This will help support prices, which have fallen back, but not by as much as may have been feared.

Grower’s perspective

Paul Wilson, a local forestry owner, recounted his experience so far and suggested some improvements for the harvesting process.

These mainly concerned his inability to address or access the licencing system in the same way that registered foresters can.

Wilson said he had undertaken his own licence application but could not engage with the DAFM at the same level as foresters, despite it being his property that was being processed.

He suggested that sharing facilities such as access roads with neighbours would also make the process of harvesting a good deal more efficient and expedient whether the trees were standing or blown.

Wilson rounded off his presentation by calling for an honest debate over commercial vehicle environmental priorities, noting that while he wants to continue as a forester, it has to make financial sense.

A lot of work, but manageable

A contractors take on the situation was given by Peter Sullivan, who operates a couple of harvesters, one of which is standing idle through lack of being able to find an operator.

He did not feel that the costs of harvesting from the storms would be much greater so long as the plantations had been thinned beforehand, although he did note that timber movement appears to have slowed.

According to Sullivan, the arrival of machinery from the continent was of no great concern as long as it was properly cleaned before arrival, for Irish contractors had helped out abroad in the past.

Altogether, Talking Timber 2025 was a productive conference, marked by Mnister Healy-Rae’s clear commitments to helping the industry. Should they bear fruit, this event may well have marked a significant turn in the industry’s fortunes.