increase font size
The Forest Owners Association (FOA) says it’s working closely with the Government on its $28m relief package for Gisborne forestry workers.
Forestry Minister, Shane Jones announced the relief package on Friday.
The package will provide work for 300 forestry workers in jobs such as road maintenance and removing trees that are in danger of falling onto roads or powerlines.
FOA says it’s making sure the package will both look after the affected workers and speed economic recovery amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Incoming FOA President, Phil Taylor says forestry will be a crucial export tool in leading New Zealand’s recovery.
“In common with the rest of the primary sector, we will be ready to do our part to pull our economy through the extraordinary times which are ahead of us.”
“After rock lobsters, forestry was been the second longest New Zealand industry to be impacted by measures in China to try to contain COVID-19. This has created some urgency to help people who have now been out of work for weeks.”
Phil Taylor says it’s great that the affected workers can be given employment that is useful to the local economy and doesn’t take them away from their home region.
“The worldwide appetite for timber is undiminished. In fact, it’s likely to increase for New Zealand timber as climate change has an impact on forests in other countries, such as Canada, Australia and through Europe.”
OPINION: Welcome to the second annual NZ Dairy Expo at Matamata – an event created to bring together the best of the New Zealand dairy industry in a focused, grassroots environment where dairy farmers and rural professionals can meet, talk, compare products, and make smart decisions for their farms.
Red meat farmers are warning that wholesale conversion of farms into forestry to achieve climate change targets will be unsustainable for the country.
There is an urgent need for the Government to put a limit on the sale of farms for forestry - particularly for carbon farming.
OPINION: While The Hound reckons it's great to see Shane 'I'm-a-red-blooded-male' Jones boiling over about the energy crisis - so much so that he's dropping f-bombs in the daily rags - your old mate hopes we'll see more than his usual bluster and get real action on this critical issue.
While the vehicle industry is addressing the future by developing engines that run on waste oil, hydrogen, or indeed electricity, one Christchurch-based company is looking at things in a different direction with the use of steam.
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.
Former Westland Milk boss Richard Wyeth is taking over as chief executive of Canterbury milk processor Synlait from May 19.
OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our…
OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving…
