Marina Conway CEO of Western Forestry Co-op recently announced that it is “good news for forest owners as softwood timber prices are at an all time high and have been steadily increasing which is a good time for forest owners to reap the rewards of their long term investment”.

Marina advised that “forest owners generally fall in to two categories regarding harvesting – those who are at thinning stage (intermediate harvest to remove competition and increase the value of the final crop trees) or final harvest which is the overall return on your forest crop”.  Forest owners need to be aware that “forest thinning must be done within certain timeframes i.e. before the crop reaches a certain height so if your forest needs thinning you need to apply for a felling license and a forest road license, if you have to widen your existing forest entrance then you will also require planning permission”.  Western Forestry Co-op have been working on behalf of farmers and forest owners for 33 years and will prepare the applications but have advised that it can take up to 6 months for license applications to be granted so you need to be planning and getting ready up to one year in advance.

Victor Barber – Harvesting

Marina further added that “Western Forestry Co-op’s harvest model has been providing the best return to forest owners in the region, we manage all aspects of your harvest and sell the different timber products to the highest bidder, as a Co-op our job is to get the best price for the farmer/forest owner whilst also professionally managing your forest operation to ensure the value is in the final crop where the greatest return will be”.

If you would like more information or a free assessment of your forest and advice on whether it is a good time to harvest or not contact Victor Barber, Harvesting Manager on 086-8289926. Western Forestry Co-op will be running a harvesting evening in May, please check www.westernforestrycoop.ie and our facebook page for times and location or ring Head Office on 071-9161458 and we can add you to our text event list.