Forest Enterprise Wales (FEW) is helping Ireland deal with its home-grown ash crisis by supplying Welsh ash butts to Irish hurley stick makers through Ireland’s state forester Coillte.
Tonnes of ash is being bought in Britain as Irish sources have dried up because farmers can no longer fell the trees under the Rural Environment Protection Scheme.
The Welsh ash butts are being sourced from essential thinning operations in the Wye Valley and produced by Monmouth-based harvesting contractor Anthony Humber.
FEW’s regional standing sales manager Ian Blake said: “In terms of an added-value timber product, ash is almost worth its weight in gold. We are pleased to export the wood, but perhaps there’s an opportunity for Welsh companies to branch out into manufacturing hurleys for export too.”
