THE PRESS SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 1981. Forestry on farms

Press, 28 March 1981, Page 14

THE PRESS SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 1981. Forestry on farms

High hopes are held that the country’s forests will make an even more significant contribution to the economic well-being of New Zealand. Wealth from forestry comes today, for the most part, from relatively large forests which have been planted on extensive tracts of land which were of no use, or only marginal use, for farming. The country’s wood-based industries will have a sounder foundation if the planting of large forests on extensive tracts of marginal land is supplemented by the planting of smaller woodlots by farmers. The Minister of Forests, Mr Young, has predicted that perhaps half the future area of exotic forests in New Zealand will be found on farms. This may be on the generous side, but there is no doubt that farmers, to their own and the country’s benefit, could produce significant amounts of wood from small farm forests. The area will depend partly on how individual farmers view the prospects of pastoral farming. If raising animals promises a better return than growing trees, farmers will not be likely to put even marginal land into forestry. Already, however, there are figures to show that woodlots on certain land produce a return which matches or even surpasses the return from grazing.

Such figures will not alone persuade farmers to devote land to growing trees. The other major obstacle to growing trees on farms is that the return from forestry is slow in coming. A large investment has to be made which cannot be recouped, with profits, for two or three decades. For this reason, the Government offers grants to encourage farmers to plant forests. Late last year the Government increased the amount of these grants and Mr Young is now talking of extending to individuals the tax incentives enjoyed by companies that plant trees.

These grants and other incentives can be justified because they do exactly what their name indicates: encourage farmers

who might otherwise shrink from tying up capital and land for a long time to grow trees. The benefits to the country from the growing of more trees in farm woodlots are considerable. There should, for example, be greater diversity of wood types and products to satisfy the varied demands of world markets. Woodlots are easier to manage for specialised purposes — including the production of speciality timbers — than the vast tracts of major forests.

There is also a clear prospect of greater over-all production if growing trees is carefully matched to other land uses on many farm properties. This will result in part from marginal land being better used and in part from the adoption of new concepts of land use, including grazing stock among trees. Greater conventional production will also result from the stabilisation of erosion-prone areas and from the protection of stock and soil from wind. Production from trees can be compatible with the protection of land from which it should be possible to gain greater, conventional agricultural production.

If farm forestry is to thrive, farmers need assistance in the areas of silviculture and marketing as well as financial inducements to take the initial big step. Farmers interested in forestry as an additional source of income from their land are already banding together to ensure that these other forms of assistance are available. The Farm Forestry Association is active throughout the country and in Canterbury a foundation, was recently formed to assist farmers to grow timber in small lots by organising such activities as logging and the sale of their timber. The Government’s policy of encouraging farmers to grow trees is clearly a case of the Government helping those who are already helping themselves to embark on new forms of production to their own and the country’s benefit.