WITH increased Scottish government targets for tree planting, improved availability of grants and a new Forestry and Land Management bill introduced at Holyrood, now is the time for farmers and landowners across Scotland to seriously consider their forestry options.

That was the message this week from Iain Kyle, the forestry manager for land agency firm Davidson and Robertson, who explained: “Whilst not all agricultural land is suitable or economic to plant, it is worth farmers and landowners assessing the opportunities both in terms of its earning capacity and long term asset value.

"Certain types of land, including land which can be classed as ‘middle-hill’, i.e land which is not too rocky or too steep and importantly does not have more than 40-50cm worth of peat, or some marginal grazing land, can achieve values over and above agricultural value when selling for forestry purposes," said Mr Kyle.

D and R also report increased demand from buyers looking to purchase plantable land and existing woodlands and forests, with the firm recently handling the sale of 780 acres in Northumberland and 1600 acres in Dumfries and Galloway destined for planting.

“Famers and landowners have a real opportunity to benefit from available grants, tax advantages and current market conditions and should seriously consider how new forestry plantations could work alongside farming," he said. "Options for managing existing farm scale woodland, to benefit from biomass and firewood markets should also be explored. We see the proposed Forestry and Land Management legislation as a step towards meetings the Scottish Government’s own forestry targets, which should further encourage investment in forestry.”

Mr Kyle stressed that the attraction of forestry did not stop at the border – UK tax benefits, the thriving market for timber and forest products and the potential to increase land values mean that establishing forestry on farms and estates in Cumbria and Northumberland was also well worth considering.