No. 16 Choosing a consultant
NEW ZEALAND FARM FORESTRY ASSOCIATION INFORMATION LEAFLET No. 16
Choosing a consultant
I have always been an advocate of hiring a consultant when the time
comes to harvest and market your woodlot or forestry block. People
often ask me why I do not get a portable sawmill and market my own
timber. Having harvested several small blocks now, I am convinced that
to get the best value
from your woodlot it pays to get in a consultant – one with the
expertise in all aspects of harvesting and marketing. There are too
many horror stories out there about damage done, messes left behind
and, worst of all, non-payment for logs at the end. It never ceases to
amaze me how a farmer can quibble over a couple of cents per kilo for
their wool or a dollar
or two for cattle and sheep at a sale, then let some cowboy come in and
take their trees often worth thousands.
So how do you find a good consultant? For the farm forester or small
woodlot owner, word of mouth still seems to be the best method but use
companies with good track records. The NZ Institute of Forestry has a
register of professional forestry consultants that are required to meet
their standards.
Consultant checklist
The contract
A few pointers
about contracts
Consultant
checklist
A consultant should be able to give good advice on, and organise the
whole job. The following points should be discussed with your
consultant before a contract is agreed:
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Good skid site with six log grades assembled. |
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Full logging truck leaves Geoff Brann’s Te Puke woodlot. |
- Advice on roading and type of access tracks required. In
our case,
despite a flat road and good track, 300mm of rain just brought
everything to a halt.
- A pre-harvest assessment. When selling a block of trees,
you must
know what you have to sell. You need to know the area and how many
trees you have. If it is a small block, it’s a fairly simple job to
physically count them. If it is a very large block, it may be feasible
and economically
worthwhile to have an independent log study/assessment conducted before
you start. Once you have all the data, you can call for quotes or
tenders.
- Hiring experienced logging crews with the right equipment.
Cutting
down trees and logging is a job for professionals, particularly when
you remember that forestry has one of the highest accident rates in the
country. Farm woodlots are notorious for being in awkward corners with
very big trees and edge trees with heavy tops which will need to be
winched back. Our trees averaged between 3 and 4 tonnes each – not a
job for the normal farm tractor. Our woodlot was fairly typical of a
lot of farm blocks that contractors
have to contend with: long and narrow with a stream on one side and a
good fence on the other. Despite this there was no slash or debris, not
one tree went in the creek and no fences or gateways were damaged. This
is proof of a job well done.
- Advice on transport and organising logging trucks. It is
important
logs are moved as soon as possible after cutting down, particularly if
the weather is wet and humid. Logs will deteriorate rapidly if left
lying around. Sap-stain will lead to down-grading, especially in the
higher-value pruned butts.
- Assessment of log grades and matching logs to suitable
markets. Prior
to logging, your consultant will measure tree diameters, tree heights,
pruned butts and top log lengths. From this data you will get an
estimate of volumes and grades. Once this is determined, your
consultant can then approach the markets to find where the best
financial returns are for the grower. The logging crew also needs to
have someone competent at grading logs. The grades can and do change
often, which can make things very difficult and leads to unnecessary
waste. Log grades can relate to pruned butt length, small and large end
diameters of log, branch size, or to what the market requires at the
time. In our case we had eight grades of logs on the skid site.
- Advice on safety and compliance with OSH regulations.
- Obtaining resource consents when required.
The contract
You should sort out who is liable for property damage to property gates
and fences at the start, as this can be very expensive. Similarly,
terms of payment for the contract must be agreed upon. A written
contract is negotiated with all parties involved including the logging
gang, truck company and so on.
Once this is finalised and signed by all parties, the consultant takes
responsibility for sorting out any problems that arise between the
landowner and the contractors.
While a written contract is essential, it is equally important that a
good verbal dialogue be maintained throughout the job between the
landowner, the contractors and the consultant. Few jobs will run
smoothly all the way. There is always some hold up – the weather,
equipment breakdowns, changes in log grades, price fluctuations – and
these can combine to fuel the tension on site.
I am very keen on the incentive system where everyone can win. Screwing
the contractors achieves little in the long term. It puts pressure on
the workers, and leads to shortcuts and accidents.
This article by Geoff Brann appeared in the February 2000
issue of the New
Zealand Tree Grower.
Photographs reproduced from New Zealand Tree Grower, February 2000.
A
few
pointers about contracts
Is a verbal contract
legally binding in all circumstances? No, but most verbal
contracts are binding. The main exceptions are contracts dealing with
interests in land including forestry interests in land, and guarantees.
The law requires that these be written. For all contracts there must be
certainty about who is contracting and what each side is promising the
other. Ensuring that it is in writing makes it easier to prove what was
actually agreed and is a usual precaution to follow. Also there must be
actual agreement – an arrangement to agree something in the future will
not be enforceable.
How watertight does a
written contract need to be? What information must it contain?This
will vary from contract to contract. As a minimum, the contract
should identify the parties properly, and what each is promising the
other. This can include the services to be provided, the goods sold,
the price paid, the timing, manner and standard of performance, the
method and timing of payment, the consequences of breach or delay, and
how disputes are to be resolved. But if the contract is written, you
should be sure it contains all the terms agreed – you may not be able
to include later items which were discussed in negotiations but left
out of the written version. Usually, the more that has been agreed and
spelled out unambiguously, the less room there is for dispute later.
Investing time to negotiate a good working relationship before you
enter the contract, and careful drafting of the document itself,
are usually more productive than arguing about what you intended after
it has turned sour. Uncertainty and ambiguity are the enemies of good
contractual relationships, both in the field and in court.
This note by Keith Catran, senior solicitor with Russell
McVeagh, appeared in the February 2000 issue of the New
Zealand
Tree Grower.
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