New assessment service to predict quantity, type, and value of timber

A new service designed to provide an assessment of a forestry plantation and an accurate prediction of the quantities of timber it can produce, including the types of log products and their potential value, has been launched by the Irish Farmers’ Association.

Forest Assessor, which is being offered by the IFA in association with Treemetrics, was demonstrated at Ballyfin, Co Laois, this week and welcomed by Minister of State Tom Hayes.

He noted that there will be an estimated 820,000 hectares of forestry in Ireland by 2020, over 50% of them privately owned.

One of the challenges faced by the forestry sector will be to get the timber from privately-owned forests onto the market.

“There are obvious benefits to the forest owner in having an accurate assessment of the timber yield, log type and value of a plantation when he or she sets out to sell timber,” said Mr Hayes, who stressed the importance of timber as a raw material for Irish sawmills and its contribution to the economy in terms of exports and employment.