|
|
From the President
A cautious start to the year
It has been a somewhat cautious start to the New Year for both the agriculture and forestry sector this caution will have been exacerbated further with the recent announcement of a drop in the dairy payout. In the forestry sector, both export and domestic log sales are still occurring, albeit at a reduced level. Apart from harvesting and replanting, there is little enthusiasm for any new forestry activity. This is a major concern to both government and policy makers.
The industry believed that the ETS would give it a kick start and is still hoping that this will be the case following the upcoming ministerial review. The NZFFA is looking forward to both a speedy conclusion to this review of the ETS, and the rapid implementation of any changes so that it is in place for the 2010 planting season.
Conference 2009
Planning is at well advanced stage for this conference. The Gisborne Branch has put together a very interesting range of field days and events for conference attendees. The registration form is in this Tree Grower and also available on line at www.nzffa.org.nz. Nick Seymour, the conference chairman, is still concerned that the effect of an increase in cost registration, Gisbornes isolation and the current economic downturn will deter conference goers. So let us help him out by planning to attend and registering now.
Association issues
Following the Gisborne conference, Bruce Bulloch will be retiring from his roles as Treasurer, Office Manager and the NZFFA go to person. Over the least eight years Bruce has done a fantastic job of managing both the finances and the Wellington office. His departure will bring about some changes in Wellington these changes are currently being worked through by the executive and will be discussed in some detail at the conference.
Emissions Trading Scheme
The flagship of the Government initiatives to address climate change is its Emissions Trading Scheme or ETS. It came into force on the 26 September 2008 and is still in force even though there has been a change of government and ministerial review ordered. So far the government has not indicated that there will be major changes to the Act, in fact they are signalling that the forestry component of it is likely to remain mostly unchanged.
For most farm foresters there are still two very important deadlines in place. Firstly, if you own less than fifty hectares of pre-1990 forest and wish to apply for an exemption to the ETS, then you have until the 30 June 2009 to do so. Secondly, all pre-1990 forest owners have until the 31 July 2009 to apply for a free allocation of the NZ Units.
MAF also has extensive information available on its web site www.maf.govt.nz and its 0800 CLIMATE hotline is also very good.
The take-home message is that unless you are a pre-1990 forest owner, there is no real urgency to do anything yet, other than keeping up to date with developments. Pre-1990 forest owners with less than 50 hectares should now be thinking about whether or not to apply for an exemption to the ETS. Details of the application process, timelines, and information required from pre-1990 forest owners applying for a free allocation of NZ units are currently expected to be available late April 2009. The NZFFA will take a very active role in promoting the ETS to members once more of the detail has been clarified.
Patrick Milne,
President.
|
