Fencing marginal land pays off

The event was held by the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) and hosted by the Hansen family at their hill country farm in Matau.

Niels and Peter Hansen, who run two farms in partnership with their wives Grethe and Fiona, have planted poles and fenced marginal land for forestry and reversion with funding from the council’s voluntary South Taranaki and Regional Erosion Support Scheme (STRESS).

The 20 people at the February 16 field day viewed that work first-hand and heard the Hansens discuss their land use experiences and choices.

Agricultural consultant John Stantiall prepared a cost-benefit analysis for those attending and concluded, as had Hansen, that the cost of farming the most marginal hill country land is greater than the returns.

The subject resonated with Kupe farmer Murray Jackson, who’s seen excellent gains from land he’s retired for forestry. In one area alone, he’d lost five cattle over three years before fencing it and planting pines.

“The regional council contributed towards the funding, and the income from the trees – I think it just makes so much sense. I’ve made more money on my waste areas than the good areas I fenced off. The compensation for waiting for the trees to reach maturity is that you can sell carbon credits.”

Hansen, too, has lost animals on steep land and used council funding to fence marginal areas.

“If you lose 10 cattle a year, that’s $12,000 before you’ve even started to make a profit,” he said.

“We think it’s a good risk to have a block of pine trees, and there might be a really good windfall out of it. It’s still potentially more profitable than dagging sheep for 25 years.”

Having fenced off their least productive land, the Hansens also found it was a shorter run to subdivide more paddocks, keeping out goats and providing a powerful tool for stock rotation.

Then there’s the environmental value of conserving erosion-prone hills that can’t cope with high numbers of heavy stock.

Hansen thinks there will be increased government regulation, especially with the public expectation for clean waterways.

TRC land services manager Don Shearman says with the recent national conversation about intensive farming and water quality, the question has also been asked about what’s being done about hill country sediment.

“The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management… sets the bottom line for water quality, and sediment levels are likely to be addressed (by the government) in the next couple of years.”

He said money from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Hill Country Erosion Fund is delivered through STRESS, which contributes to fencing, poplar and willow poles, forestry, and land retirement or reversion. These measures help with sediment reduction into waterways and often enable a farm to be managed more effectively.

“The Hansen’s operation shows what can be achieved through our programme. It also highlights what’s best for the land and that it makes economic sense from a farm management point of view.”