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The IFA is calling on the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to intervene and resolve what they call a crisis in the forestry sector.
IFA forestry chair Vincent Nally says the Department has failed to act on the issue of forestry licences, with a backlog of 1,200 licences leading to frustration among forest owners.
Nally said farmers with money tied up in forestry would like to release some of that equity in the wake of the economic impact of COVID-19, but the delay in processing licences meant they couldn’t.
It has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare
“With farmers being unable to get licences either as a result of bureaucracy or unsustainable costs, is it any wonder that the afforestation programme has ground to a virtual halt,” Nally said.
“As a farmer that has always been an advocate for forestry, I am really beginning to question the viability of farm forestry. It has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare that is just piling cost after cost on forest owners and removing any profitability from the enterprise.”
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