8 minute read
Time squeeze on forest
Time squeeze on forest planting
Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz
AFTER bearing the brunt of a price slump last year, on-going drought and the covid-19 lockdown foresters are gearing up for work under level three conditions and see a stressful planting season ahead.
Forest Protection Services managing director Kevin Ihaka, in Northland, said with level three enabling operators to get back to the business of felling and planting, the greatest challenge facing many is a lack of time to get new trees in the ground.
“We have lost a month when we would have been doing ground preparation and spraying. We have the staff to go and work but they can’t get out until that work is completed, “ he said.
The planting window for Northland will not extend much beyond late September but is dependent on how dry conditions are and much of that region remains in near drought conditions.
While tree supply is generally good the dry conditions mean they are still not in ideal condition for transplanting.
Restarting harvesting operations is also challenging, despite operators often working in equipment with a cab, in remote locations.
“We need to get our gangs to locations and you can’t have more than two in a car. Not all will have drivers’ licences so this is proving a real challenge to manage.”
The industry is launching a planting recruitment campaign this week.
Forest Industry Contractors Association chief executive Prue Younger said there could be 800-1000 jobs available over the coming months throughout NZ.
The industry has worked with Ministry for Social Development through its Work the Seasons job portal.
While physically tough the work gave a chance to earn up to $300 a day once planters are up to speed.
Younger said the planting opportunities stretch over much of the country and in general there is a good supply of seedlings.
Phil Taylor Forest Owners Association
But Ihaka cautioned it is critical forestry takes a measured approach to manning operations in coming months and avoids a boombust rush.
“If we rush a lot of new people into planting trees we may get a lot in the ground but established businesses could be forced from the sector by cowboy operations.”
Meantime, the supply lines look clear for good log flow once operators are up to speed again.
“There is good demand in China now and the ports here were cleared of logs prior to the lockdown so there is space to handle the logs here,” Younger said.
Forest Owners Association president Phil Taylor said there were usually 1-1.5 million cubic metres of timber on NZ wharves but that is only 200,000-250,000 cubic metres now.
“And prices are looking good at the moment.”
The impact of the Chinese shutdown then the covid lockdown has varied depending on the size of the forest the contracting companies work in.
“By and large the larger forest owners have been more resilient in this so contractors working with them will be looking to come out of this better on the whole than those contracting to smaller forest operations.
“Along with planting the seedlings this year one of the other concerns is lifting them when they get transplanted. We would generally take on itinerant workers for that.”
Ihaka said the delays mean the sector is now competing with horticulture for staff and time pressure to get trees in the ground will only increase.
Meantime, the Government’s Billion Trees project is entering its second full planting season.
Last season finished up short of the extra 50,000ha required to fulfil the Billion Trees target, with about 30,000ha of new land planted.
Taylor said covid problems notwithstanding, it could also be a tall order to hit 50,000ha this year.
“Replacement planting should be okay.”
But the question will be finding enough labour to plant the new land.
A more integrated approach between pastoral farmers and forestry means there is still a chance to meet the target but the sectors need to co-operate.
RUSHED: Forest contractors face much tighter time frames for this year’s plantings, Forest Protection Services managing director Kevin Ihaka says.
Since the 1960’s the Blackwell’s have farmed on Mangaotea Station, taking pride in the high-quality cattle they produce. These days Rob, Jaqueline and Zarrah farm three separate cattle studs on the property, with an obvious family rivalry pushing them to breed the best they possibly can. Success is in the bloodline
Online auction is a success
FARMERS WEEKLY HALF PAGE 265W X 200H MM A HANDSHAKE still carries weight for livestock trading firm Peter Walsh and Associates but with covid-19 it has been forced to change tack.
The lockdown changed that handshake to a tap on a keyboard as the company held to its first Livebid online auction last week.
“With no saleyard operation we had to find new ways of moving livestock so we said ‘let’s keep it on the farm’,” Peter Walsh said.
With a smart back office team and the latest technology the independent livestock broker came up with Livebid.
“We compared to other online livestock selling platforms and we do use them too but we wanted to get a design that’s more interactive with the public.
“We came up with live commentary videos with more options in the bidding system to bring a more people feel presentation to the action at sale time.”
The Livebid site has live commentary, videos and photos of the stock while also individually profiling the respective vendor details complemented with a chat button to discuss further stock information.
Walsh said it’s been about recognising a new opportunity and having the confidence to give it a go.
“Farmers have taken up on the idea very quickly. They are willing to give it a go too.”
More than 220 weaned beef calves and 80 Hereford-Angus R2 heifers from five South Canterbury farms were posted online 48 hours ahead of the first auction.
It attracted 8500 views with 310 registrations for the livestreamed auction.
“We are all very pleased with how our first Livebid panned out.”
All but one line of in-calf heifers sold through the auction at prices that pleased vendors.
Angus-Hereford steers sold from $2.70-$2.95/kg LW while Angus steers ranged from $2.90-$3.15, Angus heifers $2.85-$2.90 with Shorthorn steers selling at $2.70.
“Did it meet expectation – well we have never done it before so we didn’t really have an expectation
Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz
NEW CHALLENGE: Shenley Station vendor Rit Fisher says he thought he’d been through it all with the challenging seasonal weather this year but covid-19 takes the cake as the station moved 800 cattle to the Temuka saleyards to prepare for its annual production sale in an online auction on Thursday. Photo: Annette Scott
but we are very pleased with our first,” Walsh said.
He says the site is more userfriendly with more options for buyers than other sites.
“We wanted to bring a people presentation to the action at sale time.
“This is one good thing to come out of covid-19.
“I’m not saying this is the be-all and end-all but an opportunity to give it a go and in time it may well be the way of the future.
The annual production sale of Shenley Station was the next up for Livebid offering 800 AngusPure steer calves and heifers on Thursday.
The cattle were delivered via the Temuka saleyards.
Given the tough climatic season Walsh said it was fair to say the stock were not up to their usual Shenley weights but there was some very good buying in line with the station’s reputation.
Steer calves sold from $2.90- $3.10/kg LW and the heifers $2.40- $2.90.
Vendor Rit Fisher said having been through the bad times managing challenging seasonal weather and juggling a feed shortage he thought nothing worse could happen.
“And here we are now with covid-19 on top of it all to really mess the rest of the year up,” Fisher said.
“Livebid was new for us all and we were holding our breath.
“The line-up of calves was the best we could do in a tough season. They carry powerful genetics for top-end finishers. The calves are ready and waiting to put weight on from here.
“I wish all buyers well with the cattle and a better year than we have had to date,” Fisher said.
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