FARM organisations have expressed concern at the Government's new forestry plan for the next 20 years which will double the amount of land under trees.
Both the Irish Farmers' Association and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association complained of lack of regulations to cover the rapid expansion of forestry.
Mr Frank Allen, president of the ICMSA, used the Agriculture 96 event in Kildalton, Co Kilkenny, this week to attack "the headlong rush to plant forests all over the country".
Farmers cannot compete for extra land against the big bank accounts of the modern day landlords, i.e. large corporate interests, which enjoy tax and premia incentives for investing in forestry," he said.
Research was urgently required to evaluate the advantages of current forestry policy, he said. Tax exemption and premia for companies investing in forestry should be removed immediately, and failure to do this would result in many farmers having to leave the land due to inability to compete with companies for extra acreage they require to achieve viability.
The IFA president, Mr John Donnelly, expressed concern to the Minister on the problems being created by the transfer of conventional agricultural land to Coillte and corporate bodies for afforestation at the expense of farmer's viability.
He said the ICMSA had proposed to Mr Yates that notice of intent to plant would be a condition of grant eligibility for the forestry programme. That would mean that farmers in the locality would be notified where land was intended for forestry and also provide them with the opportunity to negotiate for the purchase, of part of the land before it was permanently removed from agriculture.
Over 20,000 people attended the event at Kildalton, where the latest technological advances and farming methods were on display. There were over 200 exhibitors, including Coillte, which had its, chainsaw specialists at the event to demonstrate safe chainsawing techniques.
The event also featured a major forum.