Geographical aspects of forest returns of Finnish farms

Abstract

Of the Finnish farms of over 1 ha arable land, 94 % also own areas of forest, these accounting for over half of the country's total forest area. The present paper sets out to examine the areal differences in mean returns from farm forest holdings at the commune level, as calculated in a manner analogous to that used in the forest taxation system. The annual increment figures are derived from the V National Forest Inventory.

Among the factors affecting mean returns from farm forest holdings, the mean increment on forest land and the average stumpage price decrease from south to north, while the area of forest land per farm increases in this direction. At the same time the areas of forest land and their mean increment are smaller on the coast than in the inland communes. The highest returns per farm, calculated from the 1973 value for the taxable cubic metre, were obtained in the southern and south‑eastern parts of the Lake Region, being over 3800 Fmk. The returns obtained in Eastern Finland were generally higher than those found on the west coast, which were liable to fluctuate considerably, the Bothnian Bay coastal communes showing figures as low as in the northernmost parts of Lapland, i.e. under 1000 Fmk per farm.

The areal pattern noted in the mean returns per farm is extremely similar to that observed in the mean income from the sale of timber. An extremely clear distribution of the communes into 8 types is obtained on the basis of the factors employed in the calculation of the forest returns.

Forestry accounts for as much as a half of the total income from farming on the farms of the Lake Region, and for a high proportion of this income in Lapland and Eastern Finland, though in the latter cases this is because of the low incomes from agriculture. On the other hand, forestry supplies only one quarter of the income from farming on most farms in the coastal areas, and as little as one tenth in many communes in Varsinais‑Suomi, Southern Ostrobothnia and the district around Oulu.