Farmland option

[Drakon]

This is a great post.
I lived near a forestry plantation a few years ago.
The deer were great so see around but I don’t think motorists and farmers would agree.
Otherwise the forestry was an ecological black hole. Nothing whatsoever grew on the floor. A few yards in amongst the trees and it was a dark as night.
No birds or insects.
85% wasteland!

 

[Drakon]

Don’t forget that if you are 40 years of age or older you won’t be paying any tax on your land rental income.
If I were you, I’d look for a replacement tenant. Maybe discuss a possible rep lament with your current tenant.

0% Tax. Think about it.

 

[RedOnion]

Don’t forget that if you are 40 years of age or older you won’t be paying any tax on your land rental income.

Even if he never farmed the land himself?

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

Otherwise the forestry was an ecological black hole. Nothing whatsoever grew on the floor. A few yards in amongst the trees and it was a dark as night.
No birds or insects.
85% wasteland!

Grass, defecated upon by livestock, is also pretty much an ecological wasteland!

 

[Drakon]

Even if he never farmed the land himself?

Yes. If the landowner is aged 40 or over, and a five year lease is signed with the tenant, then no tax is due on that income.

 

[Drakon]

Grass, defecated upon by livestock, is also pretty much an ecological wasteland!

Not true. At the very least the grass will absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis. The defecation you refer to will also fertilise that grass helping it to grow healthy and further improve photosynthesis. Its blanket fibrous root system is far more reliable in preventing erosion.

I suggest you walk through a short section of forestry (not "the woods"), and then walk through some grassy farmland. Using just some common sense, compare and contrast the two.

 

[galway_blow_in]

This is a great post.
I lived near a forestry plantation a few years ago.
The deer were great so see around but I don’t think motorists and farmers would agree.
Otherwise the forestry was an ecological black hole. Nothing whatsoever grew on the floor. A few yards in amongst the trees and it was a dark as night.
No birds or insects.
85% wasteland!

Farmers tend to be instinctively opposed to the very idea of forestry, they view it as a waste of land, this despite the fact that growing trees is much more profitable than growing beef

 

[joe sod]

Farmers tend to be instinctively opposed to the very idea of forestry, they view it as a waste of land, this despite the fact that growing trees is much more profitable than growing beef

And beef farming has had a bad few years, even dairy farming is not looking great now, there seems to be over supply now that the milk quotas are gone, also farmers have spent huge sums of money investing in dairy facilities so they are stuck with it. The Irish agriculture sector seems to have been caught offside and asleep in not anticipating the changes in what people are eating (faddish and all as it maybe), they are eating less beef and dairy.

 

[galway_blow_in]

And beef farming has had a bad few years, even dairy farming is not looking great now, there seems to be over supply now that the milk quotas are gone, also farmers have spent huge sums of money investing in dairy facilities so they are stuck with it. The Irish agriculture sector seems to have been caught offside and asleep in not anticipating the changes in what people are eating (faddish and all as it maybe), they are eating less beef and dairy.

Actually dairy farming has been going through some sort of secular bull ( pun intended) market for nearly a decade, the removal of quotas has made no difference, bar a period from 2015 to early 2017, it's been constantly high milk prices since early 2010, very different story with beef which is a perennial loser, beef farmers rely 100% on subsidies

 

[RedOnion]

Yes. If the landowner is aged 40 or over, and a five year lease is signed with the tenant, then no tax is due on that income.

Thanks, I wasn't aware the lessor didn't have to have farmed the land (like reliefs from CGT on retirement).
I've looked into it further, and the 40 year limit was removed in 2015, so anyone can now avail of this. (I'm in my 30's and own land, hence the interest).

 

[Drakon]

...they are eating less beef and dairy.

This is true of the western world, but developing countries and China can’t get enough of either.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

At the very least the grass will absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis.

So does forestry! Obviously both are more ecologically diverse than concrete.

The most biodiversity you will get is in deciduous woodland. Sadly, there isn't very much of it in Ireland.

Otherwise I agree, from a pure profit perspective coniferous plantations are much better option than livestock on smallholdings.