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.
Ian Jackson farms 295ha at Hunter in South Canterbury and has headed the NZFFA since 2012. The 1100 ewes and 400 bulls he runs enjoy shelter from decades of planting, starting with Douglas fir 50 years ago, through to more recent belts of poplar and eucalypt.
Jackson says "only a handful" of producers have refused to pay the 27c/t harvest levy, which is compulsory, since its introduction January last year. Thanks to a 20% increase in production $8m was raised, comfortably ahead of the $6.7m budgeted.
"The cut has gone from 20mt to close to 30mt in the last four to five years as 1990 plantings come on stream and increased volumes go to China," he points out.
Research funding takes half the budget and safety, at $0.5m, is another major focus. Implementing recommendations from an independent review of health and safety in forestry released in October is now underway.
Forest biosecurity is another big ticket item budgeted to take $868,000 of levy funds.
Both the Forest Owners Association and the NZFFA also benefit from levy funding, the latter's share increasing from $75,000 to $105,000 this year.
Jackson says the levy money is "invaluable" in running NZFFA as it allows central manager Glen Tims to be employed, funds a better website, and helps extension activities through the association's quarterly Tree Grower magazine, newsletters and field days.
Depending on which of the association's 27 branch areas you're in, there may be up to ten of those a year, he points out.
Membership of the association is stable at about 1900, each paying $110/year for the magazine, newsletters and notification of field days. There is a members' only area on the website but much of the information is free access as it was at least part public funded through the likes of MPI's Sustainable Farming Fund. For example, 68 Trees on Farms case study videos and four special topic videos were posted online in January.
Despite such funding, Jackson believes forestry is under-represented in Government's budgets and doesn't feature highly enough in policy priorities, probably because forestry issues are spread across several ministries rather than one body.
"We don't have a minister or ministry for forestry yet [at $5.5 billion] it's our third biggest export earner," he points out.
Former Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Jim Anderton did champion the sector and had succeeded in getting it into Government thinking but since his departure forestry seems to have "disappeared again," adds Jackson.
He's adamant there's huge potential for planting eroding pastoral hill country with trees, mostly in the North Island, and make gains economically and environmentally.
"You can make $28,000/ha in twenty years on country you cannot do much else on. The other area is riparian planting and mitigation of nutrient losses. That's going to be huge over the next few years."
Provision of shade and shelter, as designated in the dairy welfare code but often ignored, is also an area where trees, and the association's resources, have a big role, he believes.
"When there's a dairy conversion round here, you know what's the first thing that happens," he says, alluding to the usual felling of shelter to allow pivot irrigation.
