Seminar focus on woodland

Farmers who are toying with planting trees on unproductive or marginal land are being offered the opportunity to sit in on an online seminar fronted by Scottish Forestry.

Scotland’s public body responsible for forestry regulation and support will be part of the AgriScot seminar programme on November 18 alongside management company Scottish Woodlands.

Virginia Scott Harden of Scottish Forestry said that in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, establishing new woodland as part of a farming framework has the potential to improve sustainability and help the wider green economic recovery.

She added: “We are keen to help farmers understand the benefits of establishing new woodland on marginal areas of their farm, and to illustrate the support available to help.”

Scottish Wo o d l a n d s director David Robertson said increasing numbers of farmers and landowners recognised that forestry can add value not just to the increased capital value of their property, but also to stock health and management.

Fa r m e r s can receive grants of up to £6,210 per hectare towards new woodland planting, with additional monies for fencing and tree protection.

Support worth up to £1,000 is also available to buy in specialist forestry advice to help create new woodlands, and in the Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) area – a swath of the country stretching from Ayrshire and Inverclyde in the west to Fife and the Lothians in the east – landowners may be eligible for an additional contribution of up to £2,500 per hectare.

In the area, woodland covering 8,719 hectares and worth more than £52 million has been approved in the last five years.

Ms Harden Scott said properly planned forestry could play a key role in ensuring farm succession as there is an inheritance tax exemption for commercial woodland and from any capital gains tax liability arising from timber sales.

She added: “Forestr y Grant Scheme (FGS) applications are accepted all year round, so we hope to whet the appetite of farmers and see an upsurge in applications post-AgriScot.”.

The woodlands seminar will take place on November 18 at 9.30am.

To register visit hopin.to/ events/AgriScot-2020

GROWTH: Farmers are being urged to look into planting tress on unproductive land.