07 October 2021

Hardwood Focus 2021

Firewood production from thinning broadleaves

This webinar was broadcast on Thursday 7 October 2021 and included a series of short informative videos, a live presentation and a live studio panel to discuss participants’ questions.

Videos showed a recent second thinning operation in Limerick and commercial firewood processing by a local WFQA-certified firewood business. This was followed by a presentation by Noel Gavigan of IrBEA discussing firewood as a renewable energy source. The live Q&A session allowed participants to ask questions of the expert panel.

Broadleaf woodlands

Irish broadleaf forests account today for approximately 30% of all Irish forests with much of our broadleaf farm forest still young and at developing stage. Reasons for planting a broadleaf forest on the farm are diverse such as biodiversity, water protection, landscape and timber production.

In many cases, a mix of different objectives is adopted by owners, with timber production often being a central driver. If timber production is an important objective then timely selective management is a must!

Firewood produced from hardwoods

This event focused on the efficient production of firewood from young broadleaf woodlands.

Timely first and second thinnings are essential in order to provide the better trees with sufficient space for vigorous growth, allowing for the production of more valuable hardwood sawlog.

The wood produced from early thinning operations is a by-product of management. The firewood market, together with support from the DAFM thinning grants, is a very important enabler to broadleaf management and allows forest owners the chance of some additional early income.

Programme

Topics covered during the webinar included:

Thinning operations best practice
Management grants available to owners
Commercial firewood production
Firewood as a green renewable energy source