Forestry Return As Good As Farming

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 14

Forestry Return As Good As Farming

A huge surplus of exotic wood 15 yeals ago had changed to a predictable shortage today, the Director-General of Forests (Mr A. L. Poole) said at the conference of the Farm Forestry Association, in Christchurch last evening.

Exports were now close to 40 million feet a year. Overseas buyers were paying much higher prices than local industry. Logs for export had become the most lucrative for est produce marketed provided the grower bargained for his full price. “Already, returns from growing trees are showing in many places as good a return as farming,” he said. He quoted the Meat and Wool Board Bulletin to show that on North Island hill country farms radiata pine would yield much better returns than farming, even allowing for interest charges and the long investment period. He said that the Japanese log trade had increased and spread at an unpredictable rate—from five million cubic feet, in 1959, to more than 40 million feet, last year. Since the Government introduced the forestry encouragement scheme in 1962. there had been substantial development of forests . on farms. In all, more than 22,000 acres of trees had been planted at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. The value of the trees was now $1.76 mil bon. Farmers had taken oul 368 loans for planting. He said that many new farming interests had bought land for the sole purpose of establishing plantations. They had been the keenest plantation builders but they could not obtain loans under the scheme. The average cost had been $4O an acre, which was cheap by Forest Service standards “There must be no thought of stopping the encouragement sheme,” he said. “It’s success will depend on profitability to the growers, the ability of the Forest Service to administer it and the willingness of the Government to support it.” * We hope that as the Forest Service staff becomes more skilled in forestry matters, administration costs of the scheme which have been greater than was originally envisaged will return to a more reasonable level,” he said. Mr Poole suggested that the scheme become a simple subsidy one. If it did, much of the difficult and time-con-suming administration would disappear. “A grower could also use the money for planting species requiring a longer rotation than radiata pine. “The present loan scheme

has come to be based almost entirely on this tree, and such a lopsided development is undesirable. “One good feature of the present scheme is that it should ensure the growing of mostly good wood lots and plantations. “Once there are enough of these about to demonstrate growing to the best advantage there should be no further need for a tightly controlled scheme,” he said.