This piece is an extract from our Latest from the Woods newsletter (previously Forestry Latest News), which is emailed out at 4PM every Friday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

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IN all the furore over budgets, timber levies, and Natural Resources Wales' ongoing woes, it has been easy to miss some important developments in forestry; even if they are worrying ones, too. 

Recently, a survey was published on tree improvement and the benefits it could bring to the industry, which heralded some concerning conclusions (even if they are ones that passed me by at the time). 

The Maelor Forest Nurseries' poll, which engaged a wide range of key industry stakeholders from woodland owners to forest managers, found that 42 per cent of professionals across the sector feel they can’t access the right improved materials for their needs, while a further 28 per cent are unsure.

The research also hinted at the need for an authoritative body to provide verified and reliable information on the topic, with many participants revealing they consult vastly different sources to learn about the field’s latest developments. Survey respondents listed a wide range of references, such as charities, nurseries, friends, colleagues, social media and Google.

Not having an authoritative source for information leads to confusion and misconceptions. For example, over a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents had fears that tree improvement makes crops less resilient, when actually the opposite is true. And around one in four (23 per cent) revealed that fears over costs were holding them back – when the improved yield and consistency of improved material actually leads to higher returns for businesses.

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 “As an industry we must do much better at sharing the benefits of the significant improvements made through tree breeding," said Andrew Henry, nursery director at Maelor. "There is real confusion around cost versus return which is particularly telling – with some respondents seeing price as a barrier rather than understanding the vast financial returns that improved breeding is continuing to deliver, from better timber quality, higher yields and reduced rotation times." 

Perhaps this financial fear simply points to the wider issue of forestry being a low-margin industry? But maybe this is exactly where tree improvement could come into its own, providing better, more consistent returns? 

That's a winning argument if ever I heard one.