The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
TREES - A PROFITABLE CROP
Planting trees and managing existing woodland on your farm has never been more profitable for farmers seeking to diversify their business.
In a time of uncertainty and change, forestry offers a safe, long term investment – historic trends have generated average returns in excess of 10%, which are also tax free.
As our case studies illustrate, as well as generating timber income, well-managed woodlands can become an integral asset to your property by:
• Bringing value to unproductive land.
• Increasing the capital value.
• Providing shelter for livestock.
• Preventing soil erosion and mitigates flooding.
• Improving game habitat.
• Enhancing local biodiversity.
In addition to these benefits, the current grants for woodland creation are highly attractive.
Tilhill Forestry provide a no obligation site visit in order to understand your objectives. We then prepare a detailed quotation sufficient to design and establish a new woodland or to bring existing woodlands into profit. Once the budget is approved, we take care of all aspects of applying for grants, surveying/mapping, sourcing trees, planting and maintenance.
CASE STUDY 1 Part Farm Enhancement
• Farm is a productive livestock farm with 50ha of marginal/remote land that was difficult to manage and provided little income.
• SRDP grant funding supported planting of 50ha of commercial woodland with little or no capital outlay.
• Whole farm productivity increased.
• Whole farm value now increased.
• Potential to sell woodland once established to release capital for farm improvements.
CASE STUDY 2 Whole Farm Enhancement
• Farm business had diversified and no longer relied on livestock as main source of income.
• Alternative business was rapidly expanding. Retention of farm was important but to continue in agriculture major capital investment was required and income didn’t justify expenditure or employment of full time staff.
• SRDP grant funding supported planting of 550ha of commercial woodland. • Strong prices for established woodland provide increased asset value with no capital outlay.
• Timber revenue to come when trees mature, or potential to sell as established woodland.
Timber Harvesting and Biomass
Whether you own 1 hectare or 100 hectares of woodland, Tilhill can offer a complete timber harvesting and marketing service. We would be interested in talking to you about the service we can offer and the tax-free income we can generate for you.
We supply all of the major sawmills and timber processors in the area and will target your timber to the most appropriate market to maximise the return to you. Demand for standing timber is strong at the moment and current prices reflect this, so if you have standing timber available, now is a good time to realise the value from it.
We would be particularly interested in talking to woodland owners of young forests, such as those planted under the Grampian Forest scheme in the 1990s, which may benefit from thinning and management advice. You may be surprised at the income that can be gained from carrying out thinning and the potential long term improvement in crop form, growth and value.
If you have already converted to using biomass/woodchip (or are considering it), we supply biomass to a wide range of customers across Moray, Aberdeenshire & Angus from 25 to 10,000 tonnes.
Contact Frank Tomlinson at our Huntly office on 01466 793726 or 07831 157407.
Email: tilhill.enquiries@tilhill.com