IFA president Tim Cullinan has said that Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Pippa Hackett are putting hundreds of jobs in rural Ireland at risk through their mismanagement of the forestry crisis.

He said the staggering incompetence of the Department in resolving this issue would put people all over the country out of work.

The IFA president was speaking in Co Tipperary following a day of meetings with people involved in the entire forestry supply chain.

At a meeting this week with Ministers McConalogue and Hackett, the IFA pointed out that there are nearly 2,000 licences caught up in the Department. The Department will not clear the backlog for two years without urgent remedial action.

The target for processing licences in both the legislation and the Charter of Farmers’ Rights is four months

“This Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. On the one hand, we hear ministers saying how committed they are to addressing the climate challenge and encouraging farmers to plant forestry. Yet those who do are left waiting years by this Government to proceed. We won’t stand for this blatant hypocrisy. Farmers are stepping up to the plate but have been badly let down by the Department of Agriculture.

“The target for processing licences in both the legislation and the Charter of Farmers’ Rights is four months. These delays are scandalous and will be the death knell for our timber industry and our forestry planting programme,” he said.

Sawmill owner Sean O’Grady explained how there are a lot of people employed by the sector in rural Ireland. He is very concerned about the future of his business and his workers.

He said: “We are in an area where there is an abundance of supply that can’t be felled because of the current dysfunctional system. Unless this matter is urgently addressed, we won’t have the supply to keep operating”.

The system needs to be streamlined through the amendment of the Forestry Act 2014

IFA farm forestry chair Vincent Nally said that the system is not working for farmers. The costs and red tape associated with planting and managing a forest is a disincentive to planting and actively discourages management.

“The system needs to be streamlined through the amendment of the Forestry Act 2014 to remove the requirement of a licence for forest roads and thinning operations. The submission of a management plan that describes how the forest will be sustainably managed over a 10 to 20-year period should replace the licence requirement,” he said.

Cullinan said: “The sector is at a crossroads. Either these ministers step up now and fix this issue, or we will be left with no option other than to discourage farmers from planting.”

Reduction in farm emissions down to better efficiency

IFA environment chair Paul O’Brien said the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture reflects the work that is ongoing at farm level to increase efficiency and reduce emissions.

The 2019 Environmental Protection Agency report attributes the reduction to a 10% decrease in nitrogen fertiliser use and 25% decrease in liming.

I would be concerned that farmers are receiving mixed messages on liming

“The reduced emission figures for agriculture clearly show that farmers are stepping up and are playing their part in climate action,” he said. He urged caution in relation to attributing reductions in lime usage to reductions in emissions, as in the long-term, liming is proven to reduce emissions, specifically nitrous oxide.

The benefits of lime are recognised in the programme for government, which outlines plans for a “national liming programme” to improve nitrogen efficiency.

“I would be concerned that farmers are receiving mixed messages on liming. Research from Teagasc has shown that increasing soil pH by liming resulted in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and increased grassland productivity, compared to the unlimed plots under the same management regime,” he said.