Farmers who want to leave mainstream farm production under the reformed CAP proposals will be allowed to plant trees on the land on which the decoupled payments are to be made without penalty, writes Seán Mac Connell, Agriculture Correspondent.
The new regulations which will allow farmers to collect their single farm payment and tax-free forestry premiums as well will lead to a surge in the amount of land being used for forestry, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, predicted yesterday.
Visiting the farm of Mr and Ms Peter and Patricia Farrelly, at Moynalty, Co Meath, yesterday, the Minister said many farmers were responding to the new regulations, which would mean payments of up to €500 per hectare, tax free for the next 20 years. "This is a wonderful deal for farmers which we have negotiated as part of the CAP reform measures and the policy is now agreed that a percentage of a farmer's land can be put into forestry without impacting on the single farm payment."
Farmers, he said, will continue to receive the single farm payment but will also have the capacity to earn sums of up to €30,000 tax free for the next 20 years. From next January, farmers will receive a single farm payment based on payments they have received in the three years from 2000 whether or not they continue to produce animals or crops on their land.
He said that applications had already been received to plant 17,000 hectares of forestry this year and he expected that unlike previous years, when only one third of applications were activated, most of the approvals would lead to planting taking place. "I will be very surprised if we do not get to plant between 10,000 and 12,000 hectares of forestry this year because the conditions are now right for a surge in planting to taken place," he said.
Mr Walsh said that finance was available to all farmers who wished to plant trees and there was also €6 million for the forestry support schemes.
In recent years, planting targets have not been met and Ireland, with less than 10 per cent of its agricultural land afforested, is years behind its European counterparts where many countries have up to 50 per cent of their lands under forest.
Mr Jim Reidy, national forestry development officer with Teagasc, said 13,000 farmers now have a forest enterprise, with around 10 per cent of the national land area under forests.
"Farmers now account for over 80 per cent of annual afforestation. At present, 95 per cent of all timber sales are from Coillte forests.
"However, by 2015, sales of timber from private forests would account for 25 per cent of the total, reflecting the huge increase in farmer planting over the past decade," he said.
Mr Reidy said that under the new EU decoupled payments forestry would offer many farmers the opportunity to boost income.
"Up to 25,000 drystock farmers will have decoupled payments of less then €200/hectare €80/acre from January 1st, 2005.
"For many of these, planting trees on part of their land could lead to an increase in income," he said.
"For those who plant in 2004 there is the additional bonus of retaining the full decoupled payment on the land planed, while also being eligible for the full forestry premium for sustainable forestry," he added.