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Farm Forestry Mystery Creek Report 2017
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
SafeTree update
Grant to investigate solution to hazardous treated timber waste
Erosion Control Funding Programme – supporting the Gisborne region
Forest Safety Record under scrutiny
Dothistroma Pine Needle Blight spraying programme
President
Neil Cullen
cullen@farmside.co.nz
-Mid Otago
-South Otago
-Southland
-Sthn High Country (south)
Immediate Past President & Newsletter editor
Dean Satchell
dsatch@gmail.com
-Far North
-Mid North
National Office
Phone: 04 4720432
Executive
Angus Gordon angusg@xtra.co.nz
-Taupo & Districts
-Middle Districts
-Hawkes Bay
Michael Orchard
orchards@xtra.co.nz
-tba
Hamish Levack hlevack@xtra.co.nz
-Gisborne East Coast
-Wairarapa
-Wellington
Patrick Milne patrick@cypress.co.nz
-West Coast
-Central Canterbury
-North Canterbury
Peter Berg
thebergs@ihug.co.nz
-Lower North
-Waitomo
-Waikato
-Bay of Plenty
Don Wallace
don@wallace.gen.nz
-Taranaki
-Marlborough
-Nelson
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Notices
Expressions of Interest for Permanent Forests Reference Group.
On behalf of the Ministry for Primary Industries, we are inviting expressions of interest from people who would like to be involved in a Permanent Forest Reference Group. While all the paramaters have yet to
be developed - and indeed this will only happen once we have a group together - current thinking is that the group will be broader than just the Permanent Forest Sinks Intitiative, and that it will not be a formal Special Interest Group (but it may well be associated in some way with the Indigenous Forests Section). Please send expressions of interest to admin@nzffa.org.nz
Thank you to those IFS members who have already signified their interest - we have recorded your names.
For more information on these events, they are posted on the NZFFA website >>
Branch secretaries, please make sure you notify head office of any branch or action group events.
- Waikato branch field day Waikato Branch NZFFA July Field day visit to Murray, Jennifer and Greg Allen’s Huntly property Date – Saturday 15th July 2017 Meeting time – 10am, bring a tea or coffee…
- Middle Districts branch field day July Field Day: Horoeka – Tararua District This month we will visit Mike Charlton’s property at Horoeka in Tararua District. He has a number of 20-year-old pine blocks that are…
- Wairarapa branch field day NZFFA Wairarapa Branch Winter Special Event Wednesday 2nd August Visit to the Juken NZ mill, Masterton followed by Evening meal at the Masterton Club Guest speaker: Gareth Winter (Wairarapa Archives)…
- Demonstration of FGR Steepland Harvesting Programme Where: Moutere Forest Nelson When: Thursday, 3rd August 2017 More info >>
- Lower North branch field day When: Friday 11th of August, 10am. Where: Woodhill Forest, just off SH16 and on the edge of Helensville. This field trip will examine preparation for harvesting, OSH issues and markets for…
- Taranaki branch field day Carbon, bees, production forestry and conservation When: Sunday 27th August Where: Okahutiria Road, Whenuakura/Waverley HOSTS: Tuku Bush investors –Wellington NZFFA member Paul Stephenson will present to us. Michelle Bird,…
- NZIF Conference NZ Institute of Forestry Conference Rotorua Where: Novotel Rotorua Lakeside, Tutanekai St, Rotorua When: 3rd to 6th September 2017 https://nzif.org.nz/events/conference/
- Forest Growers Research Conference 2017 When: Tuesday, 17 October - Thursday 19 October 2017. Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport, 550 Memorial Ave, Christchurch. Outline: Tuesday, 17th October 2017 Conference Day 1 (Start time…
- Determinations, specialty timbers and the building code Dean Satchell's blog, July, 2017. What do you know about "Determinations"? Well, Determinations are best described as judgements made by MBIE where disputes arise between the Building Consent Authority (BCA) and those undertaking building work. BCA's…
- Stringing Up the Stringybarks Denis Hocking's blog, July, 2017. The stringybark eucalypts were identified some years ago as a promising group for solid wood production in New Zealand with a combination of good growth rates, early heartwood formation, relatively…
NZFFA members can set up their own blogs on the NZFFA website. Email Dean.
- Biosecurity Levy: Consultation July, 2017. Consultation with the New Zealand Plantation Forest industry has begun on the proposal for a Biosecurity Levy to allow the sector to meet the response costs of a biological incursion under…
- Federated Farmers back FOA on Local Government charges for NES inspections July, 2017. Federated Farmers, representing the owners of what they estimate is 274,292 hectares of forests on farmland in New Zealand, have backed FOA objections to proposed local government charges for monitoring…
- FOA Rare Species Website operational July, 2017. The new FOA rare species website is now live at http://rarespecies.nzfoa.org.nz The website is a revamp of a previous website designed to give forest managers the tools to manage and…
- Govt now needs to focus on its Energy Efficiency Strategy June, 2017. The Bioenergy Association says it’s pleased the Government’s refresh of the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (NZEECS) focuses on the heat and transport opportunities available across New Zealand…
- Primary Sector Science Roadmap ‘not all about food’ June, 2017. The just released Primary Sector Science Roadmap features a pine tree nursery on its front cover. The Forest Owners Association says this is a clear signal that the primary sector…
- Research presentations from 2017 GCFF conference June, 2017. The 2017 Growing Confidence in Forestry’s Future (GCFF) research programme conference was held in late March, and all presentations from this event are now available. Research to improve the precision…
- Budget fails to plan for forest future May, 2017. Forest Owners Association President Peter Clark says the Budget is money for urban New Zealanders’ immediate concerns, and he says it fails to provide and prepare for the scale of…
We were thrilled that the direction given from the Promotions Chairman of the Forest Levy Board for this year was essentially to promote “encouraging farmers to plant trees”.
Don Carson of NZ Forest Owners Association did some great research into financial benefits of trees and carbon credit equivalents. We encouraged Don to keep his display simpler and focused, to help draw people into the site and engage them as we have learned it is more about communicating just one idea quickly and having something that identifies who we are so if passers-by already have a forestry question, they can quickly identify the site as a place to come in and ask us.
Jack’s Paulownia surfboard that Farm Forestry displayed did attract people to stop at the site, and many were amazed at its lightness and strength and his “organic dynamic theme”. This also led to discussions on growing Paulownia on dairy farms well supported by Graham Smith’s display. We had four forms of interest completed in the surfboards, and all business cards taken.
NZ Forest Owners competition, with a prize of 15ha of pine seedlings, was very successful in getting people to engage with the site. There were 59 entries and we look forward to some feedback into NZ Farm Forestry membership from that. Having the competition questions engage competitors in NZ Forest Owners other key display points would probably have been more effective than the maths exercise is our after-thought on that competition, but in itself the entry form was effective in identifying potential returns and costs from planting and harvesting pines.
We were most pleased to have NZ Farm Forestry President Neil Cullen attend for 2 days on our stand, travelling all the way from the bottom of the South Island. Neil was on hand when the Minister of Forests visited – perfect timing! Thanks to Kate & John Simmons who hosted Neil for one night.
Thanks must also go to Malcolm MacKenzie for providing his March 2017 5.2 ha radiata harvesting figures. This large poster lifted people’s vision of what factors were important come harvesting time and led to many good discussions. We were unable to locate good examples of returns on other species.
We were most grateful to Don Carson of NZ Forest Owners Association and to all these local farm forestry committee who so ably “Manned the Stand”. Once again, we all will have been invigorated by the questions and forestry experiences others have shared with us.
We gave out about 70 Tree Growers and signed up 8 new “trialing members” and we were most pleased to be in the Pavilion site Pa32 and next to the ACC Health & Safety stand (who came and got a copy of our recently issued Harvesting Safety Booklet!) and opposite Ministry of Primary Industries.
Murray Downs
Waikato Branch Mystery Creek Co-ordinator
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FENZ was formally established on 1 July. This heralds the most important change in New Zealand’s fire and emergency services in decades bringing urban and rural fire in New Zealand under the one umbrella. See Fire Emergency Insight for more information.
How are we tracking?
June 2017: Safetree’s "How Are We Tracking?" dashboard provides a snapshot of forestry’s health and safety performance. Summary of results The latest dashboard shows an increase in harm-prevention activities undertaken by the Forest Industry Safety... More >>
Access Vitae Workplace Wellbeing Services
May 2017: Safetree has teamed up with Vitae services to help forestry employers access professional counselling services for their employees at a discounted price. Why offer workers access to counselling? There are times in our lives when we have... More >>
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Scion is to investigate the feasibility of remediating treated timber with government funding of $163,000, Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson announced today.
Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a preservative for timber that has been commonly used in New Zealand since the 1950s. However, CCA-treated timber becomes a hazardous waste material when sent to landfill, that can leach arsenic into the ground.
“To date, there have been no practical remediation options available to this problem, so I am delighted that Scion believes they may have one and that I am able to support them in testing its feasibility,” Mr Simpson says.
“This study could provide New Zealand with an opportunity to divert CCA-treated timber from landfills and offer an environmentally friendly solution reusing both the wood fibre and the extracted metals.”
A 2013 report suggested that currently between 12,000 and 42,000 tonnes of treated timber could be sent to landfills nationally per annum, not including the significant estimated nationwide contribution of rural waste.
Source: Scoop
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The Erosion Control Funding Programme is designed to support the Gisborne region to combat erosion. Ultimately, it’s about protecting the land for future generations.
“We know the damage that erosion can cause – it affects waterways, infrastructure, and for land owners it can have an impact on their bottom line,” says Justine Gilliland, Director Investment Programmes at the Ministry for Primary Industries.
“We work in partnership with the Gisborne District Council and Te Runanganui o Ng?ti Porou to support current fund recipients and encourage uptake in the community.”
The fund has $30 million available over the next four years and supports the region in two ways. Firstly, MPI provides land treatment grants for landowners to treat erosion. Applications are currently open for land treatment grants and they close on 30 June 2017.
“We made changes recently to mean more landowners are eligible and some grant money is provided up front. These changes were about making it easier for land owners and ultimately being able to better support the Gisborne region to combat erosion.”
Secondly, MPI recently widened the fund to support community projects which address issues or opportunities that improve erosion outcomes for the Gisborne. Applications for community projects are open year round and all ideas are welcome.
“Projects could be focused on things like increasing the local supply of seedlings and materials, or growing skills and labour, or investigating the best land uses for erodible land. But mainly, we want people to know that if they have an idea, they should definitely get in touch and we can talk them through the criteria and application process.”
For more information on the Erosion Control Funding Programme visit www.mpi.govt.nz/ecfp
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WorkSafe's Towards 2020 report shows forest fatality rates in the past three years have risen; from 32.2 per 100,000 Full Time Equivalents in 2014, to 38.5 in 2015, and 59.5 in 2016.
For agriculture the comparable rates are much lower, at 18.2 in 2014, 15.9 in 2015 and 17.2 in 2016 - which for each year ranges from forestry having nearly twice the rate in 2014, to close to four times the rate in 2016.
The WorkSafe report says the accident rates for forestry and agriculture are 'substantially higher' than for any other industry sector.
The attached article explains the aims of the Dothistroma Control Committee (DCC) in coordinating the annual aerial spraying programme in order to control Dothistroma in pine plantations. This disease affects pine plantations of all sizes, from woodlots to major forests, and can have a dramatic impact on tree health and growth rate, and thus value of the crop.
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| Disclaimer: Personal views expressed in this newsletter are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent those of the NZ Farm Forestry Association. |
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