More forestry conversions a death knell for meat sector
Red meat farmers are warning that wholesale conversion of farms into forestry to achieve climate change targets will be unsustainable for the country.
The Forest Owners Association (FOA) says its members and the supply chain are gearing up to meet the challenge of getting back to work on Tuesday 28 April.
Its members will be working within the health and safety provisions of Alert Level 3.
The forest industry was deemed to be a non-essential industry, when the Government imposed the Level 4 lockdown on 26 March.
The move to cease Level 4 on Tuesday April 28, means most parts of the forest supply chain can start moving again. These include forestry management – including aerial spraying, weed and pest management, nursery operations, planting, and seed collection. It also means log harvesting, haulage, log sales and wood products processing can all start again.
FOA President, Phil Taylor, says his organisation supported the Level 4 restrictions, but now is the time to get back to work.
“Right from the outset we have been focussed on the safety of our workforce. Since then, there has been a collaborative process to develop protocols for operations right through the supply chain.”
Taylor says the New Zealand timber processing industry has had a whole month of virtually no production, which it needs to catch up on. He says some processers have already started producing for essential industries, such as making pallets for fruit exporters.
Taylor adds that forest owners are just as eager to get exporting back to normal as well.
LIC farmers are set to benefit from a genetics collaboration with US company, Sexing Technologies (ST).
"It was awesome to see not only where our milk goes but to find out more about the range of ways it's used."
Departing Fonterra director Leonie Guiney is urging the next generation of co-operative farmers to step up and be there to lead in future.
A work in progress is how Farmlands chair Rob Hewett describes the rural trader's 2024 annual results.
A net zero pilot dairy farm, set up in Taranaki two years ago to help reduce on-farm emissions, is showing promising results.
Chinese buyers are returning in force to replenish stocks and helping send global dairy prices higher.
OPINION: NIWA has long weathered complaints about alleged stifling of competition in forecasting, and more recently, claims of lack of…
OPINION: Adding to calls to get banks to 'back off', NZ Agri Brokers director Andrew Laming has revealed that the…